Financial Inclusion Through FinTech – A Case of Lost Focus

Financial Inclusion and inclusive growth is the clarion call given by nations all across the globe as they become increasingly aware that growth is more sustainable when it is inclusive. Close on the heels of this awakening comes the FinTech revolution which questions the role of traditional players in promoting the inclusion and fosters the same. While the regulated traditional banking channel has been engaged in meeting the challenges of inclusive growth, the emergence of technology is sweeping across the sub-continent marked by stupendous growth in electronic market, smart phone penetration, cloud based solutions and the emergence of financial technology companies providing services and products similar and parallel to banking. Even as FinTech seems to redefine the service quality and product delivery through innovative use of technology in design and delivery of financial products and services, there is a need to moderate the hype by introducing a robust regulatory framework to strike a balance between innovation and compliance and to ensure a service orientation over and above the pure commercial instinct. The instant paper attempts to examine the phenomenal role of FinTech in filling the wide gap of Financial Inclusion, the need for its reorientation towards poorest of the poor and the road ahead in the light of multiple challenges that it faces and poses to the traditional players.