ISAS Insights

India’s challenge of financial inclusion – giving every household in the country access to the formal financial sector – has been magically transformed by digital technologies which have exploded over the last five years. Millions of households not only have an active bank account but can hope to get cheap, efficient and user friendly access to a host of financial services – savings, remittance, credit and micro insurance. Even as the way India harnessed digital technologies to deepen financial inclusion is unique, there are many formidable challenges on the way forward. The ongoing Singapore-India cooperation in financial innovation can be a potential win-win opportunity for both countries to leverage the financial sector for real sector growth.