Blockchain technology holds immense prospects for the Indian Financial sector. The technology has already begun to showcase its gravitas with digitisation slowly taking over and transforming the financial services sector in India.
The Banking and Insurance services, amongst others, have witnessed a right amount of traction in this regard with the improved speed of transactions and detection of frauds. According to reports, the National Stock Exchange too is said to be conducting blockchain technology experiments. Experts surmise that the embracing of blockchain technology will allow the financial services sector to drastically shave off their operating costs and achieve higher levels of efficiency through increased transparency. There is already an association in place of the major players in the market who seek to leverage maximum benefits with their adoption of blockchain technology.
Expected to reduce, and even eliminate the manual processes that were previously used, blockchain technology has left an indelible mark in the realm of KYC digital identity, private trading in the market, management of digital identity, P2P payments, etc. There has been a significant decline in terms of document sharing costs with the replacement of manual and paper-intensive processes with digitisation. Research shows that there could be possible annual savings of over USD 40 billion with the implementation of blockchain technology. Financial institutions will stand to benefit by considerable savings in their operational, and IT fees, third party payments, administrative costs, personnel expenses, supply chain financing, trade finance, cross-border trade payments, etc.
Some of the top banks in India, along with the stock and exchange and few big business conglomerates, have been exploring the prospects of blockchain in India. Taking note of the implication of the blockchain technology in the global market, many institutions have been working towards aligning their operations in line with this digital disruption to achieve greater efficiency. While expansion and importance of blockchain are unquestionable, it will have to be seen to what extent this technology creates a platform and a network of inclusivity for the diverse Indian market.
