The risk associated with digital transactions is hidden and regulators have to be ahead of the curve given the wide digital divide in India.
Barendra Kumar Bhoi, former Head of the Monetary Policy Department, RBI said, sea changes taking place all around – including the payment and settlement system, digital banking and mobile financial services – calls for constant attention of regulators to stay ahead of the curve to ensure safety, security and orderly developments amid the emerging and evolving risks.
Even as the government is vigorously pushing on digitisation of payment in the BFSI sector, the challenges are many and the case in point is RBI imposing a ban on MasterCard to acquire new customers from July 22 on the issue of data localisation, said Bhoi addressing a webinar on the ‘Digital Transformation in BFSI sector’ organised by PRMIA (Professional Risk Management International Association).
‘Intense digital divide in India’
“While the digital divide in India is intense, the digital ecosystem is weak in rural areas. Frauds and cyber-related crimes are high, whereas risk mitigation on digital transformation of BFSI segment is inadequate,” he said.
Bhoi stressed that regulators should ensure that self regulatory organisations, ombudsman, sandbox are strengthened. He also pointed out that customer satisfaction was inadequate due to increasing cases of mis-selling, failure of transactions and poor dispute resolution.
With the Covid pandemic accelerating the digital transformation in BFSI sector, thought leaders from diverse sectors shared their perspectives to combat emerging and evolving risks from digitisation.
V Chandrasekhar, Senior Advisor, the Indian Banks Association said, there is an urgent need for the re-skilling of bank employees in risk management including identification, quantification and mitigation of risks.
Nirakar Pradhan, CEO, PRMIA India, highlighted the organisation’s journey in promoting learning and development, competence training, global certification, and employment opportunities for students and professionals.
“RBI, the government, State Bank of India, other leading banks, and corporates have adopted PRM certification as a part of employees’ learning and development,” he said.