DIGITAL frauds have surged during the Covid-19 pandemic and fintech firms can play a significant role in preventing this, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor said Tuesday (28).
T Rabi Sankar said that digital penetration is largely limited to urban and metro areas and needed to be expanded to the entire country.
"We need technological solutions to increase penetration to the vast sections of the population, which is unbanked and lacks a smartphone," Sankar said.
According to him, the pace of digital penetration has outstripped awareness.
He said: "We need to concentrate and focus all our attention on minimising digital fraud... We need to up our guard against digital frauds and cybercrime. Both regulators and other stakeholders have to play their respective roles effectively to ensure that innovation in the fintech space continues to support India's economic growth.
"We are in the best of times, with the promise of technological innovation in finance and hope of substantial efficiency gains, better customer experience and greater social welfare, but we also need to deal with the threats of online frauds, compromise of customer credentials, data privacy, and safety."
The RBI official also pointed out that fintech can play an important role in real-time cross-border payments, which have stagnated for decades.
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