Why in News?
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank launched the Bali Fintech Agenda.
About Agenda
• The Bali Fintech Agenda is a set of 12 policy elements established to help member countries harness the benefits and opportunities of rapid advances in financial technology (fintech), while at the same time also managing the risks that arise.
• The Agenda proposes a framework of high-level issues that countries should consider in their own domestic policy discussions and aims to guide staff from the two institutions in their own work and dialogue with national authorities.
• The 12 elements are distilled from members' own experiences and cover topics relating broadly to enabling fintech, building the foundations of the digital economy, ensuring financial sector resilience, addressing risks, promoting international cooperation, improve cross-border payments and remittance transfer systems.
• It provides a framework to support the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in low-income countries, where access to financial services is low.
Fintech in India
• According to EY’s Fintech Adoption Index 2017, India has the second highest fintech adoption rate in the world.
• With a range of options, including e-wallets, lending and insurance, the variety of services provided in this sector are immense and have changed the way consumers carry out their daily transactions. • Fintech in India is especially advantageous, since the country boasts of an unrivalled youth demographic which is rapidly growing. Furthermore, smartphone penetration is likely to witness an upsurge - from 53% in 2014 to 64% by 2018.
• The financial services market in India is primarily untapped, with 40% of the population having no association with any bank and more than 80% of the transactions carried out through cash. This represents an opportunity for Fintech start-ups to massively spread their wings in different segments.
Challenges in India
• Adoption of Fintech: Adoption becomes complicated in an economy like India’s which is dominated by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Going digital for payments can be complicated.
• Cost involved in Integration: Integrating with Fintech doesn’t come cheap. The cost can be prohibitive for MSMEs.
• Regulatory framework: Regulatory uncertainty in the fintech sector is posing a major challenge. This would require “the modification and adaptation of regulatory frameworks to contain risks of arbitrage, while recognizing that regulation should remain proportionate to the risks.” The regulatory framework for entering in Indian market and performing as one is highly restrictive in nature