Former Infosys Chief Senapathy Gopalakrishnan roped in as Chairperson of RBI's Innovation Hub

In August, the Reserve Bank of India announced that it will set up an innovation hub for accelerating innovation in the financial sector through effective use of technology. For the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), the central bank has roped in former Infosys Chairman and co-founder, Senapathy Gopalakrishnan as its first Chairperson.

Presently, he is the Chief Mentor of Start-up Village, an incubation hub for start-ups.

The governance council of RBIH composes prominent scientists, academicians, regulators and former executives of the banking sector.

“The Reserve Bank in its Monetary Policy Statement…the Bank will set up to promote innovation across the financial sector by leveraging on technology and creating an environment which would facilitate and foster innovation,” the central bank said.

RBIH would be guided and managed by a governing council led by a Chairperson, the central bank said.

The appointed members include ex-NPCI CEO A P Hota, ex-Syndicate Bank CMD Mrutyunjay Mahapatra and ex-RBI ED T. Rabi Sankar among others. The chief executive is yet to be appointed

Apart from the innovation hub, the central bank has also gone live with the testing of applications for regulatory sandbox which was delayed by several months due to the coronavirus pandemic, said RBI.

An ecosystem focusing on promoting access to financial services and products should be created by RBIH, said RBI and also added "this will also promote financial inclusion".

The Hub will collaborate with financial sector institutions, technology industry and academic institutions and coordinate efforts for exchange of ideas and development of prototypes related to financial innovations.

It would develop internal infrastructure to promote fintech research and facilitate engagement with innovators and start-ups.