RBI warns against allowing Amazon, Google and others into financial services

Mumbai: Entry of the so-called Big Tech companies in financial services in emerging markets such as India could present challenges to regulators towards maintaining adequate stability and governance of the ecosystem, the Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday.

The central bank flagged monopolistic practices, antitrust issues, cybersecurity risks, and challenges around data privacy as key concerns that could emerge.

“Big Techs offer a wide range of digital financial services…of several advanced and emerging market economies,” RBI said in its biannual Financial Stability Report. “While this holds the promise of supporting financial inclusion and generating lasting efficiency gains… concerns have intensified around a level-playing field with banks, operational risk, too-big-to-fail issues, challenges for antitrust rules, cyber security and data privacy.”