The RBIH Swanari (स्व-नारी) Program
In line with our vision of making finance accessible to a billion Indians, we are launching RBIH’s Swanari (स्व-नारी) program, which aims at enabling:
“Frictionless Finance for Every Woman in India”
Swanari Event
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Venue: Radisson Blu, Bengaluru
Context
In the past decade, India has made unprecedented progress on various fronts in financial inclusion. While the gender-gap in bank account coverage is now officially closed, more nuanced data reveals a different picture. For example, more women tend to have inactive bank accounts than men, fewer women save within their bank accounts, women are much less likely to make and receive digital payments and women entrepreneurs continue to face a very high degree of friction in the access to quality of financial services.
While the challenges may be many, technology, frugal innovation, women solving women’s problems and partnerships and alliances have limitless power to solve intractable problems. RBIH is looking to leverage these tools to develop gender-inclusive financial products and services, supporting women’s advancement in their financial growth and independence.
The Launch of the SWANARI Program
On March 6 th 2023, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, RBIH will officially launch the Swanari program. A day-long event has been planned to bring together senior leaders and industry stalwarts to discuss and deliberate on issues related to access, usage and quality of financial services for women and women entrepreneurs.
The event will launch the Swanari Roadmap document which will outline the focus areas of this new vertical. This will be followed by the launch of four new pilot projects conceptualized by RBIH in partnership with Banks, FINTECHs and other technology service providers as follows:
- Bridging the Digital Payments Divide among Female Garment Workers
- Digitising Loan Disbursements under the PM-Svanidhi Scheme for Women Street Vendors
- A Frictionless Savings Product and Service for Women by Women
The program will also feature panel discussions with eminent female entrepreneurs and FINTECH and BFSI leaders. We will hear how they have converted challenges into opportunities and what they believe the role of Technology and Innovation is in Financial Inclusion of all women across India.
Stay tuned to this space for more updates!
Illustrious Line-up of Speakers include
Mr. Rajesh Bansal, CEO, RBIH
Shri. Amarjeet Sinha, Chairperson, RBIH Gender Expert Committee, Former Advisor to the Prime Minister and former Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development
Ms. Shradha Sharma, Founder & CEO, Your Story Media
Ms. Shinjini Kumar, Co-Founder, SALT
Mr. S. Selvaraj, Chairman, Tamil Nadu Grama Bank
Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, CEO, AU Small Finance Bank
Mr. Rahul Chari, Co-founder, PhonePe
Ms. Deepthi Ravula, CEO, WE HUB Govt of Telangana
Ms. Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO, Kinara Capital
Ms. Sairee Chahal, Founder and CEO, SHEROES
Ms. Rama Devi Kanneganti, Chairperson, Atal Incubation Centre We-Hub & President ALEAP
Ms. Srivardhini K. Jha, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore; Chairperson, NSRCEL
Ms. Lathika Pai, Country Head, Microsoft – Venture Capital and PE Partnerships
Ms. Tanya Naik, Head – Online and Omnichannel Business, Pine Labs
Anand Kumar Bajaj. Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby
Bindu Ananth, Chair, Co-Founder and Managing Trustee of Dvara Holdings
Mr. Manikandan. E V, Co-Founder, Anniyam Payment Solutions Pvt Ltd
Mr. Shiva Prasad, Founder & CEO, Makspay
The Swanari program will bring together players in the ecosystem for effective deliberations. We look forward to welcoming participants from a broad spectrum:
Women Entrepreneurs
Senior and mid-level BFSI professionals
Academicians
Women Leaders
Founders of leading Fintechs
PE-VC Firms
To register for the event, click here
About RBIH
The Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) – a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – is an organisation that enables frictionless financial services to a billion Indians. We function as a focal platform, bringing together members of financial, technological, and academic institutions, to promote and accelerate innovation across the financial sector. With a robust ecosystem that enables the exchange of ideas, research and development of prototypes, we aim to not only strengthen the Indian financial system but also keep India at the forefront of global financial innovation.
