modi fintech financial revolution: Fintech will lead to financial revolution PM Modi
The banking sector has become a medium for good governance and better service delivery, Modi said, adding that Digital Banking Units (DBUs) will further financial inclusion and improve banking experience for users.
“If Jan Dhan accounts had laid the foundation for financial inclusion in the country, then fintech would form the foundation for financial revolution,” he said on Sunday while dedicating 75 DBUs in as many districts of the country. DBUs are physical outlets that offer facilities such as account opening, balance checks, fund transfers, fixed deposit investments, loan applications, credit and debit card applications, and tax and bill payments, etc.
Modi attributed India’s sustained economic growth to the efforts of the current government to replace pre-2014 “telephone banking” with “digital banking”.
“Banking today has gone beyond financial transactions and has also become a medium for good governance and better service delivery,” he said.
Before 2014, bank managers used to get phone calls that guided the way they operated, he recalled. The Narendra Modi-led NDA government came to power in May 2014.
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The government takes banks to the people
“Telephone banking policy had made the banks unsafe and made the country’s economy unsafe by sowing the seeds of thousands of millions of frauds,” he said, stressing that the government had transformed the system with transparency as its main focus. He said the government had accelerated the resolution of bank bad debts with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
By identifying non-performing assets (NPAs), lakhs of crores of rupees had been brought back into the banking system.
“We recapitalized banks, cracked down on willful defaulters and reformed the Prevention of Corruption Act,” he said.
The Prime Minister said that a new self-powered mechanism has been created for the banking system through new initiatives such as DBUs and innovative use of fintech. “There’s a lot of autonomy for consumers, there’s also the same convenience and transparency for the banks,” he said.
The Prime Minister said his government had taken banks to the people, unlike the ways of the past when it used to be the other way around.
“We have given top priority to ensure that banking services reach the last mile,” he said.
The Prime Minister urged small business owners from villages to completely switch to digital transactions. He also asked the banks to help connect 100 merchants each to go fully digital for the benefit of the country.
“I am confident that this initiative will take our banking system and economy to a stage that will be future-proof and will have the ability to lead the global economy,” he said.
The combination of technology and economics has helped eliminate the digital divide as well as corruption, he said, adding that the government has transferred Rs 25 lakh crore directly to the beneficiaries via the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme.
“Digital economy today is a major strength for our economy, our startup world, Make in India and self-reliant India,” he said.
He also said that another installment under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme will be transferred on Monday. Under the scheme, Rs 6,000 per year is given to eligible farm families, which is paid in three equal installments of Rs 2,000.
Referring to the movement to launch a digital currency based on blockchain, the prime minister said, “Be it digital currency in the coming times, or digital transactions in the present day, apart from the economy, there are many important aspects associated with them.”
Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that DBUs will enable people who do not have a personal computer or smartphone to access banking services digitally, without the need for paper documents of any kind. As part of the FY23 budget, the finance minister had announced the creation of 75 DBUs in as many districts of the country to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence.
