The Board of Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) has named Rajesh Bansal as its new chief executive officer (CEO). The appointment will come into effect from May 17, 2021.
Bansal holds more than two decades of experience in designing technology-led population-scale payment products, electronic cash transfers, digital financial services, and digital IDs to enable inclusive development in India and multiple Asian and African markets.
He had been associated with RBI under various capacities in the areas pertaining to technology, financial inclusion and payment systems. The Reserve Bank in its Monetary Policy Statement on Development and Regulatory Policies dated August 06, 2020, had announced that the Bank will set up Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) to promote innovation across the financial sector by leveraging on technology and creating an environment which would facilitate and foster innovation.
The Reserve Bank had then appointed Senapathy (Kris) Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and former co-Chairman, Infosys, as the first Chairperson of the RBIH. Shri Gopalakrishnan is currently the Chief Mentor of Start-up Village, an incubation hub for start-ups. Other members of the Governing council are:
- Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Institute Professor, IIT, Madras
- Prof. H. Krishnamurthy, Former Chief Research Scientist, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
- Shri Gopal Srinivasan, CMD, TVS Capital Funds
- Shri A.P. Hota, Former CEO, National Payments Corporation of India
- Shri Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, Former MD & CEO, Syndicate Bank
- Shri T. Rabi Sankar, Executive Director, RBI (ex-officio)
- Shri Deepak Kumar, CGM, Department of Information Technology, RBI (ex-officio)
- Smt. K. Nikhila, Director, Institute for Development & Research in Banking Technology, Hyderabad (ex-officio)
The RBIH was set up with an aim to create an eco-system that would focus on promoting access to financial services and products. This will also promote financial inclusion. The Hub will be collaborating with financial sector institutions, technology industry and academic institutions and coordinate efforts for exchange of ideas and development of prototypes related to financial innovations. It would develop internal infrastructure to promote fintech research and facilitate engagement with innovators and start-ups.
Bansal was a member of the founding team of Aadhaar where he played a key role in designing India’s Direct Benefits Transfer system and electronic KYC (eKYC).
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