Global Fintech Fest 2022 Draws International Fintech Doyens

Reiterates unequivocal commitment towards sustainability and financial inclusion

Global Fintech Fest 2022 (GFF) – India’s largest fintech conference – held here between September 20-22, brought on one platform global fintech experts and enthusiasts. The conference was abuzz with numerous thought-provoking sessions, addressed by distinguished speakers, along with innovative fintech product launches and much more. It concluded with an unequivocal commitment towards sustainability and financial inclusion.

Inaugurating GFF 2022, Indian Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman said on September 20, “We have led the way for an inclusive financial world through a Presence-less Layer, Paperless Layer, Cashless Layer, and Consent Layer. These four layers for inclusion are capturing the attention of the world. We are focussed on creating a sustainable financial world which is global, green, and inclusive.”

The Day 1 of GFF 2022 commenced with a session on ‘Creating A Sustainable Financial World’ addressed by Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, GFF 2022 Advisory Board, Chairman, Axilor Ventures and Co-founder, Infosys, Naveen Surya, Chairman, Fintech Convergence Council, Srinivas Jain, ED & Head of Strategy, SBI Mutual Fund and Smita Aggarwal, Global Investments Advisor, Flourish Ventures. This was followed by multiple other sessions throughout the day on themes such as sustainability, financial inclusion, payments, ONDC, fintech chatbots etc.

Addressing delegates at GFF 2022, Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, marked the theme of his talk as ‘Fintech as a Force Multiplier’. “Technology, innovation and fintech are working in tandem and contributing to the dynamism of the sector. In our journey towards higher level of sustainable development and financial inclusion these forces morphed into force multipliers,” Shri Das said. 

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Chairperson, Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch laid down some core principles that guide regulators, while delivering her keynote address at the Global Fintech Fest 2022 (GFF 2022) in Mumbai today. “There are some key principles that guide a regulator. These include anonymity, transparency, financial inclusion and structural vulnerability,” she said.

Among the other key speakers on Day 2 of GFF 2022 were Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director & CEO, Axis Bank, Dr. Saurabh Garg, Chief Executive Officer, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

On September 22, Indian Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, in his valedictory address underlined the need for social inclusion in India’s digital progress. In this connection, he outlined the government’s plans to take high-speed data connection to every village of the country.

“Telecom is the very foundation of Digital India and the Hon. Prime Minister has given us a clear mandate to overhaul our digital regulatory framework such that it is globally benchmarked and endorses global competitiveness. We are currently looking at 3-4 legislations cumulatively inclusive of the new telecom bill, the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and the IT Act of 2000 to create an interactive framework in which the industry’s concerns are addressed by the government and government’s concerns are duly taken into consideration by the industry. Technological navigation has to be modulated such that the interests of end users are protected,” the Minister said.

Among the other key speakers who spoke on Day 3 of GFF 2022 were Shri Jayant Sinha, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) & Chairperson, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, Shri Injeti Srinivas, Chairperson, IFSCA, and Shri Rajesh Bansal, Chief Executive Officer, Reserve Bank Innovation Hub.

Global Fintech Fest is organised and presented by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Reserve Bank of India, International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), National Payments Council of India, the Payments Council of India (PCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC). This is the third edition of the Global Fintech Fest, and the first one where domain experts are participating from across the globe in-person and virtually.

GFF 2022 is being supported by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), National Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency (Invest India), Startup India, Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) and ONDC. Special Partners of GFF 2022 are World Bank Group, United Nations Capital Development Fund, BIS Innovation Hub, KNOMAD, Better Than Cash Alliance and International Finance Corporation (IFC).