Page 43 - Banking Finance June 2022

ARTICLE

ROLE OF FINTECH

AS KEY DRIVER

OF DIGITAL

FINANCIAL

INCLUSION

Introduction: money to pay for the gas she uses to cook dinner, as the
utility company has recently connected its payment system
Somewhere remote in a low-income coastal area of Kerala,
to the mobile money infrastructure.
in the early hours of the morning, a woman street vendor
uses her cell phone to borrow a very small amount of money
These above facts that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic
digitally to buy a basket of fishes in the wholesale fish
illustrate the ways in which fintech has enhanced financial
market. During the day, she will sell those fishes in her small
inclusion at different stages of development.
shop located in the outskirts of the town.
Digital finance is increasing financial inclusion,
Few customers will pay her using their mobile wallet, others
complementing or substituting traditional finance. While
with cash. She will transfer the cash onto her phone at the
digital financial services are still small relative to traditional
shop next door, where the merchant is also a business mobile
services, they are growing rapidly and at varying speed
money agent. At the end of the day, she will be able to pay
across regions and countries.
back her loan taken by the bank/fintech agency and keep
her profit in her mobile wallet. She can use this mobile
Globally more than 1.7 billion people have no access to a
bank account and small- and medium-sized enterprises
About the author (SMEs) (95 percent of companies worldwide) provide
employment to more than 60 percent of workers, yet
Deepak N S struggle to access finance. In this environment, fintech
Faculty, Staff Training College
(technological innovation in the financial sector) is creating
Union Bank of India
significant opportunities, helped by the growing ownership
Aluva
of mobile phones and access to internet.
BANKING FINANCE | JUNE | 2022 | 43