The digital revolution has made its way into every aspect of our lives and has redefined the way we experience the world. And it continues to impact our lives. One of the areas where it has made the most impact is the way we transact, financial transactions to be more precise. In the past few years, financial transactions have become more digital in nature than they were in the last decade. In an effort to become a digital economy, many nations across the globe have introduced numerous initiatives to boost the adoption of digital payments. The breakout of the COVID19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns too played a crucial role in accelerating the adoption of digital payments.

The digital revolution ushered in the age of connectivity. It has also fuelled the call for a cashless economy. Nations across the globe are tirelessly investing their time and energy into establishing a cashless economy. Governments view digital payments as an important tool to advancing financial inclusion, providing banking facilities at the touch of a button. There’s no need to queue up outside the bank when you can take the banking experience to the people.

Businesses no longer view payments as a mere transaction for services rendered, on the contrary in the digital age business have begun viewing digital payment as one of many touch-points for creating enhanced customer experience thereby enhancing their customer base whilst boosting customer loyalty.

To understand this growing and ever evolving ecosystem better and what it means for the future of payments, Sapphire Connect is organizing the inaugural edition of PayGround – The New Age Payments E-Summit 2020. A first-of-its-kind summit that would showcase the evolving digital payment ecosystem, not just in India, but will also amongst SAARC member nations.

A day-long session packed with insightful keynote sessions, fireside chats and panel discussions, the summit is aiming to touch upon some of the critical aspects of digital payments with sessions on the of reaching the un-banked masses, redefining customer experience, the emergence and application of AI & ML in banking and digital payments etc. The speaking panel is star studded with leaders and pioneers of the digital payment ecosystem, individuals who have dedicated themselves to enhancing and securing digital payments.

Rishi Kapoor, Associate Partner & Business Head at Sapphire Connect explains the reason behind organizing PayGround, “Technology has enabled us with the ability to bank from the palm of our hands. Yet, as per recent studies, there are about 1.7billion un-banked adults in the world, one must ask why? Leveraging technology to maximise financial inclusion has been and continues to be one of the top priority of many nations. But they still continue to face numerous challenges, the threat of security breaches, regulatory roadblock etc. PayGround is specifically designed to address these underlying challenges that are hindering the growth of the digital payment within the SAARC member nations.”

With PwC as our knowledge partner and with some of the most renowned leaders from the fraternity – Nitin Chugh, MD & CEO, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Nepal, Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, former MD & CEO, Syndicate Bank, Abhaya Prasad Hota, Consultant, Swift India Domestic Services Private Limited, J.A.Chowdary, Chairman, India Blockchain Standards Committee, Rahel Ahmed, MD & CEO, Prime Bank Bangladesh, Mohan Tanksale, Strategic Consultant, SWIFT India, ShivKumar Bhasin, CTO & COO, National Stock Exchange and many more, PayGround is the set-up for one of the most profound discussions on Digital Payments – See you on November 27^th!