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India on cusp of 'Whatsapp moment in finance', says Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani

These game-changing milestones include the working of existing technologies that are enabling access to people and reducing procedure, paperwork and time

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India can take the lead in putting tech to use to make billions of people financially independent and capable, says Nandan Nilekani, in his new book Rebooting India. The Infosys co-founder and Aadhar creator believes India is at the cusp of a big financial revolution if it were to follow the route to a cashless (therefore corruption-free) economy. "A number of things have been set in motion since we started our work on using Aadhaar for direct benefit transfers and social security payments, and we think all these trends can culminate in a game-changing way."

These game-changing milestones include the working of existing technologies that are enabling access to people and reducing procedure, paperwork and time. "eKYC makes sure that anyone get a bank account without paperwork. The Jan Dhan scheme has opened bank accounts for millions of Indians in a big way. With Pahal, LPG subsidies are now credited into bank accounts of 120 million families. The microATM is deployed in thousands of villages providing banking facilities and remittances using Aadhaar and biometric authentication at the last mile without the presence of the bank."

The ability of using financial tech towards 'digital inclusion' is what excites Nilekani the most. The man who was the inspiration behind Thomas Friedman's 'World is Flat' today believes that India could lead this potential global revolution. Only that the story has shifted from being a software provider to a tech user and enabler. Nilekani insists that a developing nation like India must look for Indian solutions to Indian problems. And that our population offer a serious 'scale' play. Finance tech, he believes, is the most obvious and untapped space to see innovation. "We file our income-tax returns online, and can authenticate our identities online through Aadhaar. There is no doubt in our minds that India is at the head of the technology curve," Nilekani asserts as he believes these are good foundations before other payment and consumption driven services wrap around fintech. "Certainly, fintech will be the next big tech story. The use of biometric ID and authentication to build a next generation of products also has huge potential."

In India, we already have almost a billion people with Aadhaar who have digital ID and biometric authentication. "However, where we lag is in applications and adoption in the government and private sectors. We are sure that with the foundation now built, the rest will also happen as different ministries are speedily incorporating Aadhaar into their products." e-governance or putting websites is not sufficient, says the software visionary. Just like Uber and Ola redefined the taxi business, he believes the government can ride tech to fix systemic gaps. "We have outlined 12 such projects, of which two have been completed (Aadhaar and Pahal) and the ideas can be applied to 10 more projects eKYC, payments, health, education, justice, transparent government expenditure, etc." Nilekani does not put the onus of building everything on the government. He insists the country's vibrant start-up community should be included in this story. "Each of these projects can be implemented by start-ups within government with 10 teams of 10, working under the prime minister.

Nilekani calls this a 'Whatsapp moment in finance' outlining how Indians, as a result of all these trends, are now poised to join the banking system at the same rate at which Whatsapp was adopted. "We leapfrogged wired telephony with mobile phones. For many millions of Indians, smartphone is likely to be the bank, and we will leapfrog the branch. We are likely to leapfrog traditional organised retail with e-commerce." That technology is the greatest equaliser of our times is no longer a debate. Through the use of technology we can achieve change at speed and at scale. "By understanding incentives, providing convenience, and understanding the power of markets, we can root out corruption from all aspects of our society. It will not happen by appointing more Lokpals and more policing and more laws. It will happen through a systematic redesign of our processes"

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