Bill Gates hails India’s digital finance approach, calls it 'global model'

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Tuesday hailed India’s policies for financial innovation and inclusion and said that based on its approach to policy implementation, his philanthropic foundation is working with other countries to roll out open-source technologies.

Gates acknowledged that India has built ambitious platforms for universal identification and digital payments, including the world’s largest biometric database (Aadhaar) and a system for cash transactions between any bank or smartphone app (UPI). He said these policies have drastically reduced the cost and friction of distributing aid to the poor, especially during the pandemic.

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Speaking at the Singapore Fintech Festival, Gates said if people are looking to study one country right now, other than China, they should look at India, where “things really exploding and innovation around that system is phenomenal.”

Indian digital payments method was launched after the government demonetized its currencies in 2016, invalidating most of its high-value banknotes, in order to curb corruption and push Indians away from cash. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is aided by booming smartphone use and lowest wireless data rates in the world. India mandates companies to use its UPI platform for easy flow of payments among all services, including Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc., Paytm and any new start-up.

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'India, a great example to the world'

Praising India as a “great example,” Gates said his organization is now helping some countries that don’t have established standards to roll out similar systems based on open-source technologies. Countries such as Russia, Morocco and Bangladesh have expressed interest in India’s biometric system - Aadhaar.

Speaking on the ‘significant accomplishment’ in development of vaccines against Coronavirus, Gates said at least six treatments are expected to be available in the first quarter of next year.

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Gates stressed the need to address the virus in an equitable way, that is why, his foundation is working with global manufacturers, including the Serum Institute in India, to ensure the availability of sufficient doses at reasonable prices. Gates said he expects vaccines to put an end to the pandemic in 2022, but also warned against complacency.

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