The Indian fintech landscape has received a significant governance boost with the launch of the India Fintech Foundation (IFF), a self-regulatory body (SRO) to advance governance and support innovation in the fast-evolving industry. The foundation was inaugurated at the Startup Mahakumbh 2025, reflecting the sector’s commitment to responsible expansion and regulatory convergence.
The India Fintech Foundation has been created as a nodal body to connect various players in the fintech space. Its primary focus is to look into regulatory deficiencies, encourage best practices, and ensure effective interactions between industry players and policymakers. The foundation membership comprises 100 individuals, including fintech founders, industry professionals, and former institutional officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), SIDBI, and CERSAI.
The said foundation will address different sub-sectors of fintech, such as digital payments, lending, wealthtech, insurtech, regtech, account aggregation, embedded finance, and newer technologies such as decentralized finance (DeFi), central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and Web3. This multi-pronged strategy will build a strong innovation framework while ensuring compliance with changing regulatory requirements.
NS Viswanathan, ex-deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and Non-Executive Chairman of Axis Bank, joins as Chairman of IFF’s Board. His long experience of working on financial regulation will provide direction to the foundation’s strategy. Jitendra Gupta, a prominent fintech industry leader and member of the Inter-Ministerial Industry Committee on Fintech (IMICF), highlighted the need for inclusiveness in defining industry standards.
The rollout of IFF coincides with the period of exponential growth for India’s fintech industry. With a projected market size of $550 billion in 2030, the industry is at the heart of India’s economic drive. Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, underscored that SROs such as IFF play a pivotal role to enhance ethical standards and facilitate innovation.
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IFF’s formation is part of larger trends in India’s fintech sector, such as increasing investments, IPO prospects for startups, and improving AI-based financial solutions. By creating an environment of cooperation among stakeholders and providing regulatory clarity, IFF is poised to be a key driver in shaping the future of digital finance in India.
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