“Active mobile users in India are between 500 to 600 mn. 90% of these people (roughly 400mn users) have bank accounts. Of these however, only 67million mobiles are linked to their bank accounts. Even though the RBI has mandated SMS alerts for every transaction, mobile-based payment systems will take off only when each and every existing customer is linked.” said Mr. A.P. Hota, CEO, NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India), speaking at the 1st round table of Financial Inclusion and the development of Payment Systems (FIPS) in association with Catallyst Constellations, a new age management advisory organization that concluded on Saturday at Taj Palace in Mumbai.
Rajanish Dass of Catallyst Constellations and Santanu Sengupta Convenor FIPS Forum initiated the discussion on the concurrent topic. Eminent speakers at the round table included Mr. G. Padmanabhan, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, Mr. R Chandrasekhar, President, NASSCOM and Mr. AP Hota, CEO, NPCI.
Commenting on the objective of the conference, Prof. Rajanish Dass, President, Catallyst Constellations said “Although the scope and possible impact of MFS is very high in India, but success, in terms of adoption by the customers, seems to be happening at a slower pace than expected. The round table will emerge as a platform for the best minds to come together and discuss on policy gaps and indentifying the issues and challenges across the various stake holders in the MFS ecosystem, pin-point regulatory and adoption issues towards successful MFS rollout in the country and various facets pertaining to the issues and challenges in MFS.”
Mr. R. Chandrasekhar, President, NASSCOM, complimenting Mr. Hota for having a tight grip on numbers, said, “A standards- based, agnostic regulation is key for the success of Mobile Financial Services. Another aspect is scalability, which calls for sound business models, innovation and healthy competition. This would call for a common institutionalized format that includes the views of the two regulatory bodies –TRAI and RBI.
The panels through the day also discussed the vibrant eco-system of start-ups venture capitalists and innovators in India, who have together formed a nascent silicon valley of sorts in India. There seemed consensus that Mobile Financial Services make business sense, and they will improve access to credit and spread the financial system, where it is currently not available.
Rajanish Dass of Catallyst Constellations and Santanu Sengupta Convenor FIPS Forum initiated the discussion on the concurrent topic. Eminent speakers at the round table included Mr. G. Padmanabhan, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, Mr. R Chandrasekhar, President, NASSCOM and Mr. AP Hota, CEO, NPCI.
Commenting on the objective of the conference, Prof. Rajanish Dass, President, Catallyst Constellations said “Although the scope and possible impact of MFS is very high in India, but success, in terms of adoption by the customers, seems to be happening at a slower pace than expected. The round table will emerge as a platform for the best minds to come together and discuss on policy gaps and indentifying the issues and challenges across the various stake holders in the MFS ecosystem, pin-point regulatory and adoption issues towards successful MFS rollout in the country and various facets pertaining to the issues and challenges in MFS.”
Mr. R. Chandrasekhar, President, NASSCOM, complimenting Mr. Hota for having a tight grip on numbers, said, “A standards- based, agnostic regulation is key for the success of Mobile Financial Services. Another aspect is scalability, which calls for sound business models, innovation and healthy competition. This would call for a common institutionalized format that includes the views of the two regulatory bodies –TRAI and RBI.
The panels through the day also discussed the vibrant eco-system of start-ups venture capitalists and innovators in India, who have together formed a nascent silicon valley of sorts in India. There seemed consensus that Mobile Financial Services make business sense, and they will improve access to credit and spread the financial system, where it is currently not available.
