With the Covid-19 induced lockdown, the appetite for digital offerings has risen exponentially across industries in 2020. The rural economy has shown both resilience and growth during this time.
One of the new areas fintechs have started focusing on this year has been to address the needs of the rural and underserved segment. Challenges in rural India need customised solutions and the standard products or solutions of urban India cannot be applied to the niche needs of this segment.
This year Spice Money contributed significantly to enable the 32 crore beneficiaries of the government’s Garib Kalyan Yojna to get access to their funds in a matter of hours. We created an immediate and alternate platform for migrant workers to kick start their livelihood from their villages.
As a result Spice Money actually grew more than 100% in the peak 6 month pandemic hit period. As PM Modi launches the Kisan Samman Nidhi on December 25, we are perfectly poised to support our customers to get their funds in the quickest and most secure way possible through our robust platform.
In 2021 and beyond, our mission is to digitally and financially empower over one crore rural entrepreneurs. We will be able to support and enable entrepreneurship in rural India through our bouquet of products and be the largest rural fintech in India.
India’s semi urban and rural markets are steadily moving from a cash to a cashless model. There is an increasing demand for digital offerings from India’s remote corners. In the coming year, we will see product innovation from fintechs, as well as adoption of these digital products go hand in hand at an unprecedented pace.
The author is Founder, Spice Money. Views are personal.
