2nd IIMB Golden Jubilee International Symposium

November 18-19, 2024 (IIMB Campus)

As India digitalises at ever-increasing speed, technology and its attendant effects — from affordable credit to programs for savings, investments, insurance and pensions — should be accessible to its entire population, which now exceeds that of any other country.  Business models and digital technologies can aid disadvantaged individuals’ access to flexible financing options in commercially viable ways.  They can also evolve into a variety of wider social consequences. IIM-Bangalore is organizing a 2-day international symposium focusing on issues of inclusivity, digitalisation and financial innovations in India; it will include plenary lectures, fireside chats, panel discussions, and much else, with extensive discussions and participant engagement.

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It is well recognised that millions of Indian households, micro and small enterprises have limited access to formal financial service institutions. Dependence on informal sources including family, friends and moneylenders for basic needs is extensive and influenced by culturally grounded familiarity and security as well as lack of awareness of digital fintech innovations. This leads to many getting into debt traps, especially when borrowing from moneylenders who charge high interest rates, leading in turn to poverty traps.

Successive governments and financial service providers have launched several digitally-driven programs to improve financial inclusion such as the ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana’ (a basic savings bank deposit account for poor households) and the ‘Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana’ (collateral-free loans for income generation and employment creation among micro and small entrepreneurs).  Affordable programs for financial security through pension, life and accident insurance have also been launched. These programs have been built on the foundation of digital access enabled by the ‘Aadhaar’ card (Unique Identification Authority of India) for every Indian citizen, and the marked use of smartphones for finance-related activity. Data shows that several of these initiatives have had much success while evidence exists of side effects. The Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Inclusion Index (FII) confirms the existence of gaps, possibilities, and challenges in addressing financial inclusion issues.

This symposium will provide an opportunity for academics, innovators, policy-makers, regulators, business leaders and other stakeholders to share experiences and chart a future path toward a more financially inclusive and sustainable India, powered by the latest innovations in fintech.

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