Developed world nowhere close to India in Fintech: Finance Minister

NEW DELHI: Praising India's Fintech revolution, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that even advanced countries are nowhere close to the kind of progress India is witnessing.
"This is something very unique to Indian Fintech. Several countries are now eager to engage with us, often requesting deeper interactions," she said while addressing the Digital Payments Award ceremony on Monday.
The speed of innovation in India is something that many other countries can only dream of, she said, underlining the immense progress that India has made.
She attributed India's fintech success to the Startup India movement, which she said has now expanded far beyond a single sector.
"We're already reaping the benefits of innovations across agriculture, space, and beyond. India's profile has become both versatile and admirable," she said.
According to her, excellence in digital payments has benefited not only banks and innovators but citizens at large. "This, in turn, has enhanced financial inclusion—critical for a country where a large section of the population still awaits access," she added.
To support her statement, she cited the World Bank, which has said India achieved 80% financial inclusion in just six years through digital public infrastructure—a level that would have otherwise taken 50 years. India now accounts for 48.5% of all real-time digital transactions globally.
Highlighting the success of direct benefit transfer, the FM said the government has transferred Rs 44 lakh crore to beneficiaries since 2014, with ₹3.48 lakh crore saved by preventing leakages.
"This is entirely due to the power of technology," she reiterated.
She laid out key focus areas going forward—expanding scope and scale of digital lending for small businesses, agriculture and rural innovation for better market connectivity for farmers, and addressing scams and fraud through Fintech solutions.

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