Bank accounts open in minutes, digital payments take seconds. That’s what the next tech decade will build on

Around three decades back, I was working with Kerala’s fishermen. In an attempt to enhance their returns – they were getting a mere 20% of the market price of fish – we introduced new technology like fibreglass crafts and outboard motor and even launched beach-level auctions.

However the greatest challenge which persisted was to open bank accounts for fishermen in order to streamline payments. In those days, it would take us a minimum of ten months to chase physical banks and manage to register a single account holder. Know Your Customer was an alien concept. Cut to 2021, you can walk into a bank branch and open a bank account in moments with e-KYC and biometrics. Reducing waiting time from months to minutes, digital transformation has truly enabled a paradigm shift.