The Reserve Bank of India has set up a fintech department, according to a circular released by the bank. The role of the department will be to promote innovation, and identify challenges and opportunities in the fintech sector to address them in a timely fashion, the circular added. The department came into existence on January 4, 2022, by subsuming the fintech division under the Department of Payment and Settlement Systems, Central Office (DPSS, CO), the circular revealed. A fintech unit was set up in 2018 under the central bank’s department of regulation; it used to act as a primary point of contact in the RBI for fintech-related activities. The unit was transferred to the DPSS in July 2020, and became the fintech division after its transfer. The RBI wrote that the financial landscape is evolving dynamically owing to which it needs a department to keep pace with the changes. What will be the functions of the department? The department will provide a framework for fintech research which can then be used to aid policy interventions by the central bank. The bank clarified that all matters related to “the facilitation of constructive innovations and incubations in the FinTech sector, which may have wider implications for the financial sector / markets and falling under the purview of the Bank, will be dealt with by the FinTech Department.” The fintech department will also deal with matters related to inter-regulatory coordination and international coordination on fintech. It added that the department will be attached…
