The economic disruptions owing to the current pandemic, have
impacted funding globally, with venture-backed investments in India
falling drastically between March and June, 2020, as compared to
the same period last year. Although, given the increased adoption
of digital financial services during this period of social
distancing, the fintech space in India has been relatively more
stable, compared to other sectors such as e-commerce and consumer
brands.1
The Indian Government, as well as private fintech players,
continue to work together to improve access for the rural
businesses to digital platforms, including the Aadhaar Enabled
Payment System (AePS) network, mATMs, mobile vans with mini ATMs
and bill payment kiosks, handheld PoS machine, amongst
others.2 This proliferation of data network and internet
access to rural areas in India is particularly assisting in
accelerating the adoption of digital payments by businesses in
these areas, which otherwise rely heavily
