Union Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia
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Smartphones will act as India’s bank branch despite the recent price hikes, said Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on the sidelines of the Global Fintech Fest 2026.Speaking on the event’s theme for the year – Potential to Impact – the Communications Minister said that the mobile phone has become akin to a new bank branch, the telecom network the new financial highway, and data the fuel for the AI economy. Flagging “affordable smartphones” as part of India’s digital infrastructure, the telecom network contributes to the new ‘digital trinity’ of connectivity, compute and trust that will transform the country’s finance.However, when asked by businessline about how the country can achieve these ambitions in face rising smartphone prices, Scindia said, “You need to take that in perspective. Today, voice is pretty much free. 1 GB of data costs close to about ₹9. The world average is close to about $2.5. We operate on 5 per cent of world’s cost. Average data consumption has gone to close to 32 GB per customer. So, the phone is going to become the bank branch. The mobile network is going to become your gateway for credit and investment.”Scindia’s statement comes at a time when rising chipset prices have taken a heavy hit on smartphone sales with retailers fearing the worst festival season in 2026. Mainline retail sales dropped by 30-40 per cent in the second half of August, and another 40-50 per cent since September 1, as per the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA). Another industry expert estimated that Indian users will have to continue with 4G devices for now, delaying the government’s 6G ambitions. Meanwhile, Scindia has already committed to India leading the world on 6G.Security in digitisationHe aired the possibility of AI personalising financial advice, quick credit assessments, real-time fraud detection and becoming a predictive agent as compute power converges with telecom networks and financial DPI.“Connectivity, compute and trust, these three elements together give you the new digital trinity. Today, you do not need to open a new bank. The telecom network provides those guardrails to take finance and fintech to every single citizen,” said Scindia, describing the mobile number as the gateway to credit and investment.Accordingly, he warned the sector to adopt intelligent infrastructure that can defend itself, plugging in the government’s Sanchaar Saathi initiative as well as ringfencing and firewall. Calling for the telecom sector to work in a multiplexing manner with the financial sector, Scindia said it is “imperative and mandatory” that every single citizen leverage AI and fintech technologies.“Intelligent India must democratise intelligence. AI and FinTech cannot remain the privilege of corporates, of banks, of large customers,” he said.Published on September 10, 2026
