FINANCIAL INCLUSION - NEWS AND VIEWS - NOVEMBER 2017

November 2017 Newsletter

 
November 2017

Increasingly the focus on innovation for financial inclusion is moving towards setting up a regulatory sandbox or reg - lab that allows for small scale, live testing of new ideas and tools by private entities. This enables evaluation in a controlled environment and under the regulator’s supervision. The Watal Committee for Digital Payments had recommended this to the Reserve Bank of India in December 2016, as did the Ramadorai Committee on Household Finance in July 2017. In “Regulatory Sandboxes and Financial Inclusion” Ivo Jenik and Kate Lauer of CGAP explain the entire concept and give a round - up of the various innovations being tested across the world.

However, while the idea behind a sandbox is to give regulators and private firms a chance to test innovative ideas and tools, this can hardly supplant the real role of the regulator in providing a healthy environment for innovation. India has not only a lot of work to do in setting up an enabling legal framework and assisting fintech start - ups, there is a huge gap in access to basic digital and financial infrastructure itself. If fintech is to innovate for the financially excluded, RBI must work with DoT and TRAI to ensure and monitor digital connectivity at the village level; it has to put in place standards for interoperability across agents and platforms, and it must enable fair access to all players through open data, channels, and APIs. Read more on the global evidence for Going Beyond Regulatory Sandboxes to Enable Fintech Innovation in Emerging Markets (Simone di Castri and Ariadne Plaitakis, CGAP).


Latest Views

Financial regulation and economic policies for avoiding the next crisis: Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India, October 15, 2017
Consumer Grievance Redressal in a Digital World - August 2017 – ICFI Policy Brief August, 2017
Master Direction on Issuance and Operation of Prepaid Payment Instruments, Reserve Bank of India, October 11, 2017


Latest News

All banks set to align digital payment solutions under Bhim

Aiming for Mass

Financial inclusion: who has active bank accounts in India?

A 'regulatory lab' for financial inclusion

India's BQ: Financial Inclusion No More a Dream, It's A Reality Now

SIDBI launches technology incubator for financial inclusion

Paytm looks to be largest digital bank in the world

P2P regulations: A missed opportunity

Reducing the digital divide in East Africa – spotlight on digital literacy and innovation

APIs for financial inclusion – Reflections from Karandaaz Pakistan

How Developing Countries Can Prevent Their Own Equifax Breach

Flexible Finance: What Can We Learn from PAYGo Lenders?

Making Digital Payments Work for Low - Income Farmers

More than Human ATMs: The Potential of Empowered Agents


Latest Research

Applying the RIA Lite Methodology: An Example from Pakistan, CGAP, October 2017
Financing for SMEs in Sustainable Global Value Chains,GPFI, October 2017
2016 Mobile Money in Latin America and the Caribbean, GSMA, October 2017


Editor: sumita@indicus.org The Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion was launched in 2011 to distil and disseminate information on accelerating the poor’s access to high-quality financial services. ©Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved. 4thNovember 2017
 

Newsletters from July 2020 are available at https://icfi.substack.com/

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