Fintech
Aimed at boosting bilateral collaborations in fintech services space, Singapore and India have signed an agreement to explore opportunities for mutual benefits.
Calling Singapore, a global financial hub – that in recent times, has emerged as a leading centre for Fintech, Jawed Ashraf, High Commissioner of the Republic of India to Singapore, said, “A digital revolution, anchored on the biometric identity of a billion plus people, is sweeping through India. It has prompted financial inclusion, digital payments and innovation on an extraordinary scale. Our partnership will not only support our two nations’ progress in FinTech but also help drive our international competitiveness and success in this area.
As per official sources, the Joint Working Group (JWG) whose memorandum of understanding- signing took place during the official visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore from 31 May to 2 June 2018, and was witnessed by both Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of the Republic of Singapore, will include representatives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Union Identification Authority of India, Reserve Bank of India, Stock Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India, and the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
Representatives from Singapore’s agencies will include the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, Government Technology Agency, Enterprise Singapore and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
India and Singapore both are said to share a healthy ecosystem for fintech companies. It can be mentioned here that PM Modi during his recent trip to the country, launched three Indian mobile payment apps, including BHIM, RuPay and SBI app in Singapore.
Further, as part of a newly-inked bilateral arrangement, the Indian digital platform RuPay payments system has been linked up with Singapore’s Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), thereby yielding a major win-win for both nations, as holders of Singapore NETS will now be able to make online purchases on the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) e-commerce merchant website, using 2.8 million RuPay point-of-sale terminals in India.
