Indian payment systems and financial inclusion: Current status and next steps

Author's Biography

Mahadevan Balakrishnan is currently with the Payment System Development Group, World Bank, helping multiple developing nations improve their financial market infrastructure. Prior to that he was Chief Operating Officer of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), responsible for Business, Operations and Technology. In that role he was involved in the creation of multiple retail payment infrastructures for the country, covering NFS ATM Network, the Immediate Payment System (IMPS), ACH, cheque truncation systems, the automation of 1000+ clearing houses in India with a standard solution, AADHAAR-based payment ecosystems for direct benefit transfer schemes, and the RUPAY domestic cards scheme, thus helping NPCI deliver its vision of simple, easy, convenient and cost-effective retail payment systems for all Indians. The systems he helped create in India facilitated the PMJDY financial inclusion schemes and the Direct Benefits Transfer to Bank Accounts schemes, saving India billions of Rupees. He has over 25 years of banking/technology leadership/ management experience with leading banks such as ABN AMRO Bank, Barclays and Citibank, and he was also involved in the implementation of some of the payment systems for these banks. He is a postgraduate in Business Administration (MBA) and in Bank Management (MBM), and has a Doctorate (PhD) in Financial Management/Payments. He has published several papers relating to payment systems in national and international journals.