Aadhaar is one of the key products of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that has been catering to the BFSI sector since inception. Whether it has been opening up of a bank account or getting the benefits of a government scheme, this UIDAI’s product has been a key driver.

The Aadhar services has been on a track of continuos upgradation. Recently, UIDAI has rolled out a new Artificial Intelligence based Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication which aims at faster detection of spoofing attempts. Its new two-factor/layer authentication adds extra checks to validate the genuineness of the fingerprint to further cut down the chances of spoofing attempts.

To get more insights on what are the plans of UIDAI, how they plan to cater to the BFSI sector, and what challenges they face, we have an exclusive interaction with the Deputy Director General of UIDAI, Sumnesh Joshi.

Q: How are digital public goods helping to leverage the BFSI sector?

The digital public good infrastructure that India has coined – the first digital identity platform – that is Aadhaar. This digital public infrastructure is used by many entities like banking sector, typically in the government sector, to deliver the many benefits like the public distribution system, opening of the bank account, and attendance system among others.

This has really changed the way we have delivered we are delivering the services. And using this digital public infrastructure, digital identity we have opened the bank account.

Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana we have opened more than 46 crore bank accounts. And now everyone has a bank account.

The next public good infrastructure is the UPI which everyone is aware about. Nowadays, everyone use the QR code, whether it’s the vegetable seller or a street hawker. They are taking from Rs 10-20 to large amounts using UPI through the QR code. So this is the benefit of UPI that almost all apps like WhatsApp, Google Pay, Paytm are using this infrastructure and the world is coming to us to know that how we have leverage this digital public infrastructure (UPI).

Many things are happening in the sector like ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) helping to connect the buyers and sellers.

Using these, we are going to contribute in the digital economy and ready to become a 5 Trillion Dollar economy very soon.

Q: Apart from Aadhar, what are the other aspects that UIDAI can work towards catering to the BFSI sector?

Already BFSI sector is closely linked with the Aadhaar authentication. Banking industry is using the Aadhaar e-KYC for opening of the account, SEBI is using for opening of the mutual fund account, now brokers are also coming-in to use Aadhar authentication and insurance sector is also using.

So basically, BFSI sector started using this Aadhar authentication, but further we are giving this face authentication service. So the few entities have started already.

The Jeevan Pramaan Certificate, every pensioner has to get their life certificate. So once in a year, now using the face authentication, one can generate the life certificate at home on your own, and maybe in the assisted mode also it’s available.

So the face authentication, your smart phone will become authenticator using the face, so many services will come in future that is available on the phone. So, this is how we are going to change the way we are delivering the system.

Q: Catering to a large audience, what are the challenges you face and areas of improvement?

Nowadays, everything is the around the data, and people are coming up with sort of data collection thing. So, we have to improve on the data collection, because if we have the quality dats, we can process it in a good manner and the meaningful results will come.

In the Aadhaar system, of course we are ensuring the security and the privacy of data. But it’s not only the Aadhar, because entities are going to use it for some purpose or some benefit. So, one has to ensure that the data is secured and one has to respect the privacy of the customer.

It should not be like I have applied for one service and immediately other person is calling me, pitching about some other service. So it has to be in in the customer’s hand. We should have a consent-based architecture in place.

If I am the customer then I have the power to who I can share my data and take the services. So these are some of the aspects where entities have to work on security and the privacy.