DFS Secretary urges fintechs to focus on driving offline payment solutions
M Nagaraju on Monday urged
fintechs
to focus on driving
offline payment solutions
to enhance financial inclusions.
"I would like to request fintechs to focus their attention on payment solutions for offline payment," Nagaraju said at the
CII Summit
on
Financial Inclusion
and FinTech.
He highlighted that financial inclusion is increasingly recognised as a major factor in economic growth and poverty alleviation on a global scale.
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He pointed out that seven of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are directly connected to financial inclusion. This suggests the importance of improving access to
financial services
for the unbanked and under-served populations, he said.
To illustrate progress made in India, he recalled data from before 2014, when only about 35 per cent of adults in India had access to a bank account, as estimated by the
Global Findex Database
.
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In response to this situation, the
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY) was launched in 2014 to improve financial access. Now, 99 per cent of adults in India have bank accounts. This scheme enabled lakhs of Indians to open
bank accounts
and integrate into the formal financial system, he added.
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Indian Express
14 minutes ago
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In the same period, exports to the US rose from $645 million to $1,045 million — a 62% jump. For manufacturers who had only recently begun gaining a foothold in the US market, the move has come as a significant setback. 'There will definitely be an impact. We only have three US-based customers, as most of Agra's exports have traditionally gone to Europe. But the US was a major market we were trying to enter. It's a huge consumer base, and any success there would have changed the scale of our business. This is going to slow that push down,' said Sushant Dhapodkar of Tej International Pvt Ltd. Agra is one of India's largest footwear manufacturing hubs, alongside Kolkata, Kanpur and Chennai. The city has around 10,000 micro-units apart from 150 small-, 30 medium-, and around 15 large-scale industries. Many use leather imported from Turkey, which takes 45–50 days to arrive via road, along with Indian leather sourced mainly from Kanpur and Chennai, and some from Jalandhar. 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'The government increases targets every year, and the American market has the potential to match our exports to Europe. Now all that planning is on hold.' Others, like Dawar, believe the hike is a 'pressure tactic' and will eventually be rolled back. 'The government is in touch with us to see how they can help. We were called to meet Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal last week to discuss relief. One idea discussed was that the government could bear a part of the hike, and the remaining could be between the manufacturer and the US importer.' The current uncertainty, meanwhile, is already triggering ripple effects beyond Agra. Naseem Khan, a Kanpur tannery owner whose leather is supplied to manufacturers linked to US exports, said clients have begun cancelling or freezing orders. 'Whatever the stage of production, they're saying stop immediately. 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