| |DECEMBER 20218ural India's Rise as a Connectivity-Major and its Impact on the Evolution of FinTechWith the emergence of digitization and affordable internet connectivity, the rural India which is previously considered impenetrable has now opened up in the throes of disruption. At the heart of this welcome transformation is India's rapidly growing fintech sector, valued at an est. $2.4 billion in 2020. Home to nearly 70 percent people, India's villages have shown tremendous promise. However, from a financial services point of view, their growth is plagued by persistent problems - lack of infrastructural landscape and adequate financial facilities. Such problems are not unique to rural India. Urban India too faces pockets of inconsistencies in terms of connectivity, service quality and access to financial education. But on the account of glaring socioeconomic challenges, these gaps appear startling, snowballing into larger complexities due to: · Seasonal income - The essence of rural India is its large farming communities, characterized by sea-sonal income and it impedes access to credit from financial institutions· Fluctuating liquidity - It is well known that rural India tends to invest their gains in hard assets, like real estate or gold, and not much in finan-cial assets. Spending patterns too are sporadic, and correlated to short-term gains/losses, thereby impacting liquidity· Higher banking costs - The significantly lower pop-ulation density translates to higher expenses for banking operations, weighed down by lack of scale economies as well as infrastructure (fewer custom-ers per branch, last mile connectivity issues and difficulties in credit disbursement, monitoring, and collection) As a result, financial inclusion has been notably lower in rural India than in urban India.HOW IS DIGITALLY CONNECTED RURAL INDIA POSING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINTECH?By Jaya Vaidhyanathan, CEO, BCT Digital (Bahwan CyberTek group)A strong woman presence in the banking sector in India, Jaya brings over two decades of experience of leading functions like Financial Services, M&A, Risk Management, Outsourcing Advisory, and TechnologyRCXO SPEAKSJaya Vaidhyanathan,CEO
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