BackAndhra Pradesh has created an ecosystem for fintech success: J.A. Chowdary
Andra Pradesh govt intends to catalyse fintech sector's growth by hosting global business competitions and awarding innovation, says J.A. Chowdary
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Mumbai: Banking will exist even if banks don’t because of the progress in fintech that can altogether eliminate conventional banking," said J.A. Chowdary, special chief secretary and information technology adviser to Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, in his speech at the Mint Fintech Summit in Mumbai on 23 June.
Chowdary, who was the guest of honour at the event, made this statement (reiterating something Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates first said in 1994) to underscore the fact that disruption and advancement are of the essence in the finance sector.
In his speech, Chowdary detailed the “essentials" for fintech start-ups identified by experts in the AP government.
“Money, mentoring, market access, media and manpower—these five M(s) are the Paanch Pandavas that we have identified for the success of fintech start-ups. The role played by the media—in stimulating a meaningful debate, and by educational institutions in providing skilled manpower, will be vital to our strategy," he added.
Chowdary acknowledged that India was lagging slightly behind other economies in the fintech race. But fintech has enabled the unbanked to be brought under the formal system, so “we have the potential to find robust and secure solutions" by incubating potential start-ups, he said.
“The potential to create successful start-ups lies in how we build our infrastructure. Under our honourable chief minister, we have developed the Fintech Valley Vizag as an ecosystem of success that helps identify and nurture financial technology institutions and start-ups. We intend to bring together the fintech community and catalyse the sector’s growth by hosting global business competitions and awarding innovation," he said.
Towards this end, Visakhapatnam is set to host two flagship events, the Global Blockchain Summit in October 2017 and the Fintech Spring Summit in February 2018, Chowdary said.
“We have partnered with Wipro, Microsoft, Lattice80 (a Singapore-based fintech hub), UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) and the NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India), among others, to boost our research and development capacity and provide the start-ups with the best intelligence," he added.
Chowdary is hopeful that the Fintech Valley Vizag forum will bring together regulators, banks, non-banking financial companies, educational institutions and the government, to create the best practices for the sector. “We hope to create as many successful fintech start-ups as we can through our initiatives," he said.
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