IUKFP: Harnessing the power of FinTech and data
India and the UK are both leaders in FinTech innovation. Their FinTech environments are already closely linked with much of the technology development and operations for UK financial services coming from India, and UK FinTechs entering the Indian FinTech market.
The UK’s expertise in areas such as open banking and the introduction and development of the regulatory sandbox are seeding new global ideas. India has created an immense digital infrastructure and become a world leader in financial inclusion with the Aadhaar programme. This innovation in domestic markets can build opportunity for unique collaboration in FinTech between the UK and India as the world continues to embrace digitisation post-pandemic.
The India-UK Financial Partnership (IUKFP) has the mandate to explore the areas in which the FinTech and data corridor between both countries can be enhanced and accelerated. The IUKFP aims to bring together expertise, and to recognise and articulate the areas where there is scope for partnership. This report aligns our efforts with the existing policy development already underway between the UK FinTech and Indian ecosystems. The suggestions of this group are practitioner-led and come directly from the working group which has focused on areas that have the most potential to create impact. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone in the working group for their efforts to bring this together.
From the UK side, the goal has been to suggest recommendations in line with the Kalifa Review through an India lens. This strengthens the broader push to take up these recommendations as part of a wider initiative. Their input across the group has been wide ranging and include macro issues such as talent development and specific considerations such as digital ID.
From the India side, we consider how India’s extraordinary digital financial and data infrastructure can be utilised to stimulate the growth of FinTech and partnerships between India and the UK. More specifically, we articulate and discuss areas that leverage India’s existing digital infrastructure. The areas of household and retail finance, digital open banking, central bank digital currencies, and FinTech supporting the development of SMEs in cross-border trade are in focus. How can initiatives in these areas be improved, tweaked for more impact, and used to create avenues for global use and for the betterment of the UK and India financial services corridor?
The path ahead is filled with plans for engagement with existing structures, collaboration with relevant regulators, and drawing on the considerable expertise of the contributors. As the UK and India seek to better utilise the existing digital ecosystem that has been created, we want to ensure there are practical suggestions of the synergies and how both countries can partner for mutual benefit. We hope this will result in concrete outcomes, and more broadly, continue the discussion between UK and India in the exciting area of FinTech.