Huge potential for FinTech ties, post-demonetisation: British minister

Mumbai, April 5 (IANS) Post-demonetisation, there is a huge potential for India and Britain to become strong partners in the high growth FinTech sector, visiting British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said here on Wednesday.

India has 220 million active SmartPhone users, more than three times the entire population of Britain and India's demonetisation programmes means its financial services sector is undergoing a significant transformation, he said in his address to the UK-India FinTech Conference here.

"New FinTech payment firms, small finance lenders and insurance players are entering the market. These will be crucial in helping the RBI achieve its target of 90 percent of (Indian) population having access to banking services by 2034," Hammond said.

As the world leader in FinTech, Britain couldn't be better placed to help support this target and give more Indians access to crucial financial services than ever before, he added.

On Tuesday, India and Britain announced enhanced collaboration on FinTech which will help forge closer commercial ties between companies and comprehensive links between the regulators on both sides.

This collaboration will benefit ambitious FinTech firms from both countries looking for opportunities to expand their businesses, especially in London and Mumbai where deep pools of expertise and creative energies are available, he noted.

"A deeper partnership between our FinTech sectors will be good for our financial services industries, good for our economies, and good for our consumers in both countries," Hammond pointed out.

It also has an important role to play in the reforms programme developing successfully under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley and would be in the interests of both countries to maximise economic collaborations, particularly in innovative FinTech sector, he added.

Dwelling on the existing scenario, he said British companies have invested more in India since 2000 than the US or any other European nation, accounting for 1 in 20 jobs in the organised private sector.

Similarly Indian companies invest more in Britain than in the rest of the Europe Union put together, with groups like Tata among the biggest employers in his country, he said.

Besides, more than 15 Indian banks play a central role in the Britain's vibrant banking community and Britain's financial services firms include some of the biggest names in India across insurance, asset management, FinTech and banking.

With its world-leading strength in the FinTech, Hammond said Britain wants to use it for the benefit of both countries, and India's appetite for investments, particularly infrastructure, can ensure that this desire is fulfilled.