The Digital India Bhashini Division (DIBD) plans to launch the Reserve Bank of India’s Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit in multiple languages to make financial services more accessible across languages.
The DIBD will do this in collaboration with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), a subsidiary of the central bank, to explore and develop solutions that break linguistic barriers in the sphere of financial services.
“Through their combined efforts, both are set to explore and develop innovative solutions that foster linguistic inclusivity,” the ministry of electronics and information technology (Meity) said in a statement Wednesday.
The DIBD and RBIH had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Global Fintech Fest held in Mumbai last month, in recognition of the “pressing need for linguistic inclusivity within the financial services sector”, the statement said.
The launch of the platform in local languages is a first step in this collaboration.
“This strategic partnership is poised to revolutionise financial services by enabling communication in local languages. The primary objective is to extend the reach of digital financial services to users in their native tongues, ultimately striving for seamless banking experiences for all,” the statement added.
The RBI had announced an end-to-end digital credit delivery platform in August for seamless credit delivery. The platform, developed by RBIH, aims to streamline and enhance credit delivery by financial institutions to widen the net of financial inclusion.
Chief executive of the DIBD Amitabh Nag said, “Utilising voice as a medium, Bhashini can promote financial inclusivity, economic empowerment, and enhance financial literacy.”
DIBD harnesses natural language technologies and partners with diverse players to foster digital inclusion and empowerment.
Nag added that Bhashini’s language translation and voice-processing capabilities would play a pivotal role in achieving these goals. “Our goal is to make financial services more accessible and user-friendly for everyone, regardless of the language they speak,” he said.
RBIH CEO Rajesh Bansal said the partnership with DIBD would help build an inclusive economic ecosystem where language would no longer be a barrier.
“Offering financial services in the mother tongue of users will help boost their confidence in digital financial solutions,” he said.
The collaboration between the DIBD and the RBIH comes at a time when the fintech sector is undergoing transformation due to increased smartphone penetration and reduced data usage costs, the Meity statement said.
However, while this has improved financial inclusion, “specific sectors and segments of the population remain on the fringes of the formal financial sector. This collaboration signifies a pivotal stride toward integrating them into the established financial ecosystem”, Meity said.
