Indian consumer shifting to digital financial services, says NITI

India is seeing an increasing digitization of financial services, with consumers shifting from cash to cards, wallets, apps, and UPI, Niti Aayog Vice-Chair man Rajiv Kumar said on Monday.

While releasing a report -- Connected Commerce: Creating a Roadmap for a Digitally Inclusive Bharat -- prepared jointly by Niti Aayog and Mastercard , Kumar said this report looks at some key sectors and areas that need digital disruptions to bring financial services to everyone.

"Technology has been transfor mational, providing greater and easier access to financial services. India is seeing an increasing digitization of financial services, with consumers shifting from cash to cards, wallets, apps, and UPI," he said.

The report recommended that there is a need to strengthen the payment infrastructure to promote a levelplaying field for NBFCs and banks.

It also pitched for digitizing registration and compliance processes and diversifying credit sources to enable growth opportunities for MSMEs.

According to the report, there is a need to build infor mation sharing systems, including a 'fraud repository', and ensuring that online digital commerce platforms carry warnings to alert consumers to the risk of frauds.

It also pitched for enabling agricultural NBFCs to access low-cost capital and deploy a ' phygital' (physical + digital) model for achieving better long-ter m digital outcomes.

"Digitizing land records will also provide a major boost to the sector," the report said, adding that to make city transit seamlessly accessible to all with minimal crowding and queues, there is need to leverage existing smartphones and contactless cards, and aim for an inclusive, interoperable, and fully open system .