Lack of Trust in Digital Systems Could Hinder India’s FinTech Development

A lack of an appropriate fintech ecosystem and diminished trust with digital systems could present hurdles in India’s plans to embrace the digital market.

According to Raj Kumar Jha, national creative director of Ogilvy & Mather, an advertising agency, the ‘backend wasn’t ready’ yet for India to go completely digital, according to MoneyControl .

Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Fintech 2017 conference, Jha said:

A lot of digital isn’t digital… you still have to carry papers when it comes to verification.

Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar.com, an online platform to compare various financial services, explained that many customers are willing to use a digital system if it is trustworthy, dependable and secure, but putting it into operation was another matter.

He said:

I believe the ecosystem exists… customers are demanding it. The question is when will the mass market move.

Gaining trust, however, remains an important component to get customers to go digital in the fintech space. For many organizations the highest level of security and the ease of a platform have to go hand in hand.

However, before the market can make that step there has to be a ‘behavioral change’ among the people so that they can become comfortable with using digital platforms in India.

Pushing the Digital Agenda

Finance minister Arun Jaitley has been pushing for India to become digital by pushing banks to promote the digital market.

According to Jaitley, the cash curb in India last November meant that the use of digital currencies such as bitcoin were now considered the ‘new normal.’

Last December, he was reported as saying:

Earlier, it was so much in cash and cheque. This was the Indian normal. Now there will be less cash transactions and an increase in digital currency.

With several campaigns in India to increase the public’s awareness of digital banking and the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), saying that banks need to go digital in the fintech age, India is doing what it can to increase the public’s interest in a digital market.

At the moment discussions are circulating around bitcoin and its regulation in the country. While it’s reported that it won’t be made illegal, its regulatory fate remains uncertain as authorities determine a framework.

It’s hoped, though, that the acknowledged acceptance of bitcoin from authorities will help push India to become more embracive of digital methods that will boost its fintech sector.

Featured image from Shutterstock.