Bank of Baroda partnering with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub to promote financial inclusion of women in India

Bank of Baroda, one of India’s leading public sector banks, announced that it is partnering with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, to promote the financial inclusion of women in India. RBIH has launched a program on Gender & Finance named “Swanari” that seeks to combine technology with a greater focus on women to help women achieve financial security and independence. To that end, RBIH is launching the inaugural edition of Swanari TechSprint, which Bank of Baroda is supporting as a scale-up partner, to create digital solutions to close the gender gap.

Bank of Baroda said TechSprints would have problem-solving sessions to promote innovation and collaboration to create technology-driven solutions to complex problems. The program will be held from April 18 to April 22, 2022. “A collaborative approach, centered on innovation will ensure the best outcomes for women, accelerating financial inclusion and boosting the economic empowerment of women in the country,” said Vikramaditya Singh Khichi, Executive Director, Bank of Baroda.

The public lender added the program will bring together fintech, financial service providers, innovators, and subject matter experts to code prototype solutions in real-time to the problems identified. “There are seven problem statements that have been identified and two event tracks are available for participation,” it added. One track will focus on creating a minimum viable product (MVP) with usable features to be tested by and validated by users. The second track will focus on solving problems and designing prototypes.