With the world transiting to a digital economy, there is a great movement towards utilizing technology to make the payment processes quicker and more transparent, giving an enormous stimulus to the Indian fintech sector. It was, though, the Demonetisation Act in India that commenced to a stream in the number of start-ups and technology companies exercising a renewed interest in Fintech. In current times, there has been a lot of attention towards companies that offer AI & Blockchain-based solutions and platforms in the BFSI domain.

The appearance of the bitcoin commenced to the recognition of blockchain as a transparent payment and documentation mechanism. With no third-party confirmation needed and all transactions & documentation accessible on the public domain, blockchain has decreased the time required for transactions. Barclays lately administered a global deal for an Israeli agriculture firm on its blockchain platform, in just 4 hours as opposed to the ten days it used to take earlier.

Banks and financial institutions have been the first to realize the benefits of AI in assisting them to understand and anticipate the demands of consumers, while also making substantial cost savings. These institutions use AI for gathering and evaluating data, analyzing it, and learning from it to enhance their decision making. The Royal Bank of Scotland, for instance, utilizes an AI interface Luvo to help direct consumer queries in a more reliable and faster way. Luvo recognizes the customer’s questions and searches by its vast storehouse of answers, to render an agreeable solution to the consumer within seconds.

How India is approaching AI & Blockchain technologies

India has been active in embracing Blockchain technology in a great way. The government think tank, Niti Aayog has published a 59-page policy document on the influence of blockchain and the sectors it can be utilized in. As per the CEO of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant, “Governance in India faces unique challenges given the scale, diversity, and complexity of processes involved for delivery of varied public services. Blockchain offers unique possibilities for addressing issues relating to improving governance.”

According to Niti Aayog, AI, too, can play a significant role in India, in the areas of Healthcare, Education, Agriculture, Smart Cities & Smart Mobility along with financial services. Nevertheless, there are many hurdles in embracing AI, due to the absence of allowing data ecosystems, inadequate availability of workforce trained in AI, and the disability to change research into functional market applications.

On the positive side, Alok Mittal, CEO of Indifi Technologies, is certain that AI in the prospect is going to act as a core differentiator for fintech industry by allowing significant support in credit risk predictions, pattern recognition & fraud identification.