Emerging Role of Fintech in Indian Economy

Abstract

In emerging markets like India, FinTech has changed how financial services are delivered. Advances in digital public infrastructure and a move towards mobile-first design have driven financial inclusion and made it possible for people to make payments in real-time. However, while there is an increasing number of users and transaction volumes recorded in prior scholarly research, there are very few applications of structured economic analysis on how FinTech has impacted the greater economy of India and whether our regulatory institutions have sufficient capacity to properly manage the trade-offs that financial innovation creates with respect to consumer protection and financial resilience. This study is an effort to fill this gap by conducting a multi-dimensional analysis of India's FinTech ecosystem utilizing institutional evidence and policy evaluation for the period from FY 2014-FY 2024. Analysis of FinTech data accrued before and after COVID reveals that UPI transactions grew exponentially from 91 crore in FY2017-18 to 17,000 crore in FY2023-24, highlighting the accelerated level of digital integration that is occurring in both household and business activity. Using Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations and Schueffel's FinTech framework as a basis, this study assesses digital infrastructure readiness, market penetration, and governance agility within the FinTech ecosystem, and provides policymakers with insights into how to generate sustainable and inclusive digital financial development.