Digital Solutions

Financial inclusion is a key enabler of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will be a key driver of reducing poverty and enhancing shared global economic prosperity. It is often seen as an important factor in bridging these divides, while also supporting better economic and social outcomes. Recently, the transformation towards a digital economy globally has attracted much attention in recent years and garnered great momentum ever since the great disruption caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic. One of the fastest-growing markets for financial inclusion is India, driven by government initiatives as well as public-private partnerships. Over a span of time, digital payment systems have been a ‘game-changer’ in India and have made a phenomenal socio-economic impact. It has resulted in enhancing community resilience by providing an efficient and cost-effective means of making remittances, enhanced ease of access to account holders in paying bills, fees and other payments conveniently. India has emerged as an architect of a new digital economy wherein digital payments have been revolutionary and have extended its reach through different channels like internet banking, mobile banking, two factor/multifactor authentication, debit card schemes like RuPAY and Unified Payments Interface (UPI), - an immediate payment system by National Payments Corporation of India, Open Network for Digital Commerce etc. Further, the direct transfer of government assistance/funds to targeted beneficiaries through 'Direct Benefit Transfer' (DBT) has brought transparent and efficiency in outcomes. Linkage between DBT, Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) & UPI platform for enhancing digital financial inclusion has harmoniously enabled wide range of safeguards in the digital payment space.