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IIM Bangalore hosts international symposium on ‘Digital Innovations, Financial Inclusion, and Sustainability’ on 3rd and 4th Nov

Symposium initiates industry-wide deliberation on strengthening various facets of FinTech in India 

6 November, 2023, Bengaluru: As part of its Golden Jubilee celebrations, IIM Bangalore hosted a two-day international symposium titled: ‘Digital Innovations, Financial Inclusion, and Sustainability’, highlighting issues of inclusivity, digitalization and financial innovations in India, on 3rd and 4th November 2023. 

Chaired by Prof. G Shainesh of the Marketing area at IIMB, who is also Chairperson, Initiatives on Consumer Insights, the symposium was inaugurated by Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIMB and Prof. N S Vishwanathan, Non-Executive Chairman, Axis Bank and Former Deputy Governor, RBI. 

The symposium brought together experts to deliberate on the global experiences in digitalization and financial inclusion, along with highly successful business models. The discussions delved deep into areas such as policies, cultural practices and financial behavior. Prof. G Sainesh shared that the symposium aims to focus on three integral pillars of progress: digital empowerment, inclusive access, and sustainability. “Our commitment to reducing transaction costs and harnessing the power of digital technology ensures financial services for all. We champion inclusion, reaching not just the economically vulnerable, but also advocating for gender equality, empowering women, artistes, farmers, and all who lack comprehensive access. As we strive for sustainability at various levels, we pave the way for a brighter financial future, embracing FinTech, banks and financial institutions in our shared vision." 

Welcoming the delegates, Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan said, “With this symposium, we aim to foster a dialogue around the concept of inclusive innovation, which has a global historical relevance, yet lacks prominence in contemporary discussions. What was previously referred to as ‘bottom of the pyramid’ innovation has evolved into the domain of financial inclusion today. In the Indian context, social integration in financial services remains a challenge, highlighting the scarcity of embedded social structures where financial inclusivity is not yet prevalent.” 

Day One

The first day of the symposium featured two panel discussions – ‘Digitalization and Financial Inclusion – Experiences & Learnings’ and ‘Innovations & Business Models – Accessible & Affordable Financial Services’. These were followed by a plenary session between Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Founder and CEO, Bandhan Bank, and Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, of the Finance & Accounting area of IIM Bangalore on, ‘Financial Inclusion, Empowerment & Sustainable Livelihood Creation’. 

The event also featured Rajesh Bansal, CEO, Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, for the ‘Leaderspeak’ session on India’s Fintech Revolution. Pointing out that India's strategy for financial inclusion revolved around streamlining daily services, he said, “Our rapid progress in the innovation landscape has the potential to position India ten steps ahead of other nations. In this dynamic environment, financial institutions must constantly reinvent themselves to stay relevant. The RBI Innovation Hub is dedicated to this reinvention, with a sharp focus on enhancing the customer experience. Embracing the Digital India initiative is pivotal in our pursuit of a 10 trillion-dollar economy.” 

Day Two

The second day of the event hosted Amit Nanda, Director, Selling Partner Services, Amazon, for a ‘Leaderspeak’ session on ‘Inclusive Growth through Digital Transformation’. He remarked, "With ever-evolving internet speed and internet penetration, India is driving its transition towards a digital economy. Through e-commerce, millions of Indian businesses are advancing rapidly, fueled by digital transformation. E-commerce enables sellers to reach a vast audience and serves as a solution provider for many of their challenges. It simplifies the process for a wide range of sellers, traders and entrepreneurs to expand their reach and customer base." 

This was followed by panel discussions on ‘Fintech - Leveraging Digital for Scaling Up Financial Inclusion’, ‘Digital Tech for Driving Adoption of Financial Products’ and ‘Collaborating for Sustainable Development – Financial Institutions, Governance & New Ventures’. 

The event also organized a plenary address on, ‘Democratizing Digital Commerce’ by Harishankar K, Head of Transformation, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). He highlighted that India has demonstrated digital adoption across payments and content consumption, adding, “However, digital commerce still has considerable room to grow. While digital commerce expands, its full potential and value are constrained in a 'platform-centric' world. The main goal of open networks is to transition from a platform-centric approach to a network-based approach. Open networks have been highly successful and have driven explosive growth with unhindered success." 

Chandra Mohan Malladi, Director, Financial Inclusion, TCS, stated that inclusive growth was an essential factor for any country to achieve sustainable economic development. “The four broad pillars for measuring the inclusiveness of a country are financial, social, educational and health inclusion. Financial inclusion involves transitioning from an individual's informal economy to a formal one. To drive an inclusive digital transition, changes must originate from the base of the economic pyramid." 

Kavin KK, Managing Partner - Startup Banking, IDFC First Bank, was of the opinion that technology has been reshaping the entire financial landscape and ecosystem. “The ever-evolving Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have become key decision makers in granting loans today. The only solution for a country to progress is technology. Currently, India has 300 crore bank accounts, with 90% of Indian citizens owning bank accounts. The Government of India has played a pivotal role in driving digital transformation in the country by facilitating a significant increase in digital transactions."

The two-day event saw participation from many other industry experts and leaders including Prof. Alnoor Bhimani, Director, South Asia Centre, London School of Economics; Shriya Sethi, Director - Call for Social Impact, McKinsey; Rahul Shukla, Group Head, Commercial & Rural Banking, HDFC Bank; Dr. V Anbumozhi, ERIA, Jakarta Indonesia; Dr. Shirish Srivastava, GS1 France Chair Professor, HEC Paris; Debajyoti Ray Chaudhuri, MD & CEO, NeSL; Ganesh Narayanan, CEO, Credit Access Grameen; Bhavdeep Bhatt, Head, Retail Sales, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC; Prof. M S Sriram of the Public Policy area at IIMB; Padmanabhan Raghavan, Co-founder and CEO, Multipl, and Timmana Gowda, Founder-CEO, WhatsLoan. 

For details, please visit: https://eep.iimb.ac.in/iimb-golden-jubilee-international-symposium/