Fintech could unlock India’s next export boom

By Sohail Khan 9 September 2026, 1:14 pm

Business News›Industry›Banking/Finance›Finance›GFF 2026: India must take its fintech experience global to expand financial services exports, says Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal

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GFF 2026: India must take its fintech experience global to expand financial services exports, says Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal
Synopsis

India aims to export digital financial services leveraging its extensive fintech experience. This expansion seeks to diversify services exports beyond traditional IT and professional sectors. Fintech offers a significant opportunity for India to reach global markets. India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) exemplifies successful digital public infrastructure. This unique experience can now be shared with developing nations worldwide.

SEZ sale relaxation in Budget FY27 to help promote import substitution, job creation: Comm Secretary Rajesh Agarwal — India aims to export digital financial services leveraging its extensive fintech experience. This expansion seeks to diversify services exports beyond traditional IT and professional sectors. (In Photo: Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal)

India should leverage its experience of building fintech solutions at population scale to become a major exporter of digital financial services, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Wednesday, pitching an expansion of India's services export basket beyond IT and professional services.

Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest 2026, Agrawal said services exports were already growing strongly and that financial services represented a significant opportunity for India, particularly as technology enables services to be delivered across borders without the movement of people.

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India's services exports have traditionally been concentrated around IT and IT-enabled services and the movement of professionals, he said, making diversification critical for sustained growth.

"India is one of the powerhouse when it comes to ITS services," Agrawal said, adding that professionals delivering services from India and overseas account for another substantial share of exports.

"But it needs diversification. If we have to grow, if you have to grow sustainably for a long period of time, I think we need diversification."

Agrawal said fintech could be central to that diversification, with India's recent growth in digitally delivered financial services showing the potential to export technology-enabled solutions to other markets.

He cited the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) as a key example of India's digital public infrastructure, saying the system had demonstrated how identity, consent and data technology could be combined to deliver financial inclusion while reducing transaction costs.

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India's transition from a predominantly cash-based economy to one increasingly driven by digital transactions over the past decade had created an experience that could be adapted for other countries, particularly in the Global South, he said.

"Now it's time to see whether we can use this unique experience to take these services across the world," Agrawal said.

He pointed to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America that face challenges similar to those India has confronted, including large informal sectors, cash dependence and limited access to financial services outside urban centres.

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