Voice banking hackathon to drive financial inclusion through Indian vernacular languages
Aims to bring young technologists across India together in developing innovation in voice/speech-based solutions for banking services
Chennai, 28th March, 2023 : Across the last few decades, technology has played a key enabler role in increasing banking penetration in India. However, with banking services even today offered primarily in English, individuals who may not be literate continue to face various hurdles. Further, there are limited solutions available for indivi duals with visual impairment or certain locomotive disabilities to access financial services. Focusing on solving t his grassroot challenge at the heart of financial inclusion, IITM Research Park (IITMRP) and IITM Incubation Cell (IITMIC) have partnered with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) to conduct a hackathon that aims to dri ve innovation in banking inclusion.
The event, called ‘Vaulter Voice,’ is focused on developing a solution that can perform basic banking transactions through voice-commands in the Indian languages of Hindi, Tamil and Telugu to start with, in addition to English. This initiative will primarily help the underbanked population in overcoming language barriers and people unab le to use touch-based applications due to any disability, gain access to formal banking services.
Speaking on the outcome of the hackathon Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, President – IIT Madras Research Park, I ITM Incubation Cell & RTBI, said, “About 85% of households in India have incomes less than ₹25000 per month. Digitally driven fintech has the transformative potential to reach these often-neglected sections of the popul ation and help them manage their finances better. ‘Vaulter Voice’ is a unique opportunity to bring together you ng creative minds in tech to develop a solution that can benefit millions of Indians who are unable to enter the formal financial fold due to a majority of the banking services being available only in English.”
The hackathon challenge is being conducted with the help of technology resources developed by IITs as a part of the Bhashini group, for building a public platform for languages for development of various services. The hackth on is also supported by a number of banks and associated financial institutions. The resultant innovation will be further scaled up across the country, expanding to other Indian languages as well.
“I strongly believe that consumer experience is the key to financial inclusion, which in turn can strengthen our economy at its very core. Delivering financial products and services through regional languages can expand re ach significantly. In this context, I am excited to explore and implement innovations that come through the Va ulter Voice hackathon” said Rajesh Bansal, CEO, Reserve Bank Innovation Hub.
The hackathon also ties into one of IITMRP and IITMIC’s ambitious 10X goals, to make India a leader in ‘Fintech for Inclusion’ with the vision of achieving sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth for the country. By w orking along with dedicated “Fintech for Inclusion” partners, the aim is to drive innovation with transformative potential in this sector.
Students, startups and young working professionals across the country passionate about developing voice-base d solutions that promote financial inclusion in India are encouraged to apply for the Hackathon. IITM Research Park will also potentially look at identifying, commercializing and helping scale innovative solutions, under its “Fi ntech for Inclusion” initiative.
To register for the hackathon or partner in this initiative, visit:
https://respark.iitm.ac.in/vaulter-voice-a-voice-banking-hackathon/
ABOUT IIT MADRAS RESEARCH PARK
IIT Madras Research Park is India’s first University-based Research Park and a Section 8 Not-for-Profit Compan y home to 75+ R&D companies, 300+ Startups and 9 Centres of Excellence. Envisioned to “Bringing unlike minds together”, the Research Park primarily focuses on pioneering Industry-Academia interaction leading to commer cialization of scalable and unique technology-based solutions, several of which have found wide market reach. T he Research Park holds high eminence for epitomizing an innovation paradigm ecosystem across geographical boundaries, driving the roadmap towards achieving mammoth technological goals for India through its flagship project- 10X. For more information about IIT Madras Research Park visit: https://respark.iitm.ac.in/
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ABOUT IITM INCUBATION CELL
IITM Incubation Cell (IITMIC) has emerged as India’s leading Deep Technology Startup hub with Innovation and I mpact as key differentiators/drivers. Over the last 9 years of its operations, IITMIC has overseen close to 300 ne w incubations, founded by IITM members (faculty, staff, students, and alumni) and external entrepreneurs (50%). The companies span the breadth of deep tech areas in globally critical domains, including manufacturing, robot ics, energy, e-mobility, IoT, AI/ML, space, healthcare, water, agri-tech. Today, the incubated startups are together valued at close to ₹37,200 crores and have created 7000+ direct jobs. For more information about IITM Incubation Cell visit : www.incubation.iitm.ac.in
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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 finance to a billion Indians. RBIH functions as a focal platform, bringing tog ether members of financial, technological, and academic institutions, to promote and accelerate innovation acro ss the financial sector. With a robust ecosystem that enables the exchange of ideas, research and development o f prototypes, RBIH aims to not only strengthen the Indian financial system but also keep India at the forefront of global financial innovation.
