Bhubaneswar: Maiden Odisha Fintech Festival was held in the capital city here today with participation from startups, fintech companies, students, researchers, policymakers and visitors from multiple sectors.

Variety of activities ranging from inaugural session, panel discussions and fireside chats to product launch and a MoU signing ceremony were organised during the festival.

The festival was held with an objective to develop a roadmap for the fintech industry in Odisha, identify opportunities and challenges and attract more fintech companies to the state, said an official.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the festival through videoconference.

Tusharkanti Behera, Minister Electronics & IT, Sports & Youth Services & Home, Pradeep Kumar Jena, Chief Secretary, Vishal Kumar Dev, Principal Secretary, Finance, Manoj Kumar Mishra, Principal Secretary, E&IT, Omkar Rai, Chairman, Startup Odisha, Manas Panda, Special Secretary, E&IT, Suvendu Pati, CGM RBI, and Ms. Praveena Rai, COO, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) were present on the occasion.

The festival was organised in a grand scale with support from NPCI and iServeU, a homegrown fintech startup that is serving leading banks and fintech across India.

The festival showcased the latest trends in the fintech space and the increasing acceptance and popularity of fintech applications among the masses.

Senior company executives attended the festival as panelists and shared their insights on technology trends. The panelists include Debiprasad Sarangi, CEO, iServeU, Soumen Das, Director of Capital Markets & Investments at VIKASA Capital, Rajeev Varma, MD, and Head – FIG and GIB, Edelweiss Financial Services, Rageshree Tungar, VP Sales, Pinelabs and Shri Vishwa Nath Jha, Founder Saarthi.ai.

The financial revolution unleashed by UPI and the immense possibilities through its usage were discussed in the panel discussion titled ‘Credit Card - UPI Linkage: Driving the next wave of Growth in digital payments’.

In the session ‘Voice Tech - The power to unlock the real value of Bharat’, technologies and ways to enhance digital and financial inclusion were discussed. Recognising the critical role of SMEs in India’s growth and the centrality of fintech in ensuring financial access for them, a panel discussion titled ‘Accelerating Access to Finance for SMEs’ was also held at the festival.

The widely acknowledged Indian fintech success story and the challenges ahead were dealt with in the session ‘Growth of Fintech in India’. The growth of Odisha’s fintech ecosystem and the possibilities inherent in it were taken up during the session ‘Fintech & Bank Collaborations in East India’.

Two Master classes – ‘Understanding Investments in Fintechs’ and ‘Driving Innovations through NPCI’s API Accelerator Platform’ – and a fireside chat titled ‘Transforming Rural India via UPI for PPIs’ were organized as part of the festival.

Various BBPS (Bharat Bill Payment System) products of companies such as Misscallpay – Tata Power, AU Small Finance Bank, and iServeU Technology Pvt Ltd were launched during the event.

The state government also signed MoUs with NPCI and Paytm. The MoU with NPCI will help increase digital transactions in the government operation by effective use of NPCI’s digital payment solutions and develop innovative and replicable models for increasing digital transactions.  The MoU with Paytm is aimed at the financial inclusion of citizens and merchants of the state as well as investment facilitation.

The deliberations during the event underlined how fintech advancements have considerably increased financial access and inclusion. At present, over 3,000 startups are working to create new fintech products and services in the country and some of them have become unicorns.

Mobile wallets and digital payment platforms have accelerated the process of financial inclusion by empowering those without bank accounts to participate in the economy. Big data and advanced analytics have improved credit scoring models, risk assessment, access of small businesses and entrepreneurs to capital. Lately, the use of blockchain technology has improved efficiency, transparency, and security in financial transactions. The fintech revolution has benefitted everyone from citizens to MSMEs.

Odisha has made rapid strides in the fintech space in the last few years and multiple fintech startups and companies such as iServeU, Autosave, Mool Technologies, and Subhalaxmi Future Solutions have launched their innovative products and services nationally. This event will provide impetus to the government’s efforts to create more jobs, increase innovation in the financial sector and transform Odisha into a national fintech hub, added the official.