Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the launch of the Foreign Currency Settlement System (FCSS) during the inaugural session of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2025 on Tuesday. She spoke at the sixth edition of the world’s largest fintech festival, the GFF, organised by the Payments Council of India (PCI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC) at the Jio World Centre, Mumbai from October 7-9. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Empowering Finance for a Better World Powered by AI’.

FCSS enables the smooth and quick settlement of foreign currency transactions within the Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) in real-time. It also improves liquidity management and operational processes, ensuring compliance with regulatory oversight under the Payment and Settlement Systems (PSS) Act by the IFSC. The finance minister termed the launch as India’s foundation for becoming a global fintech leader.

“India is now ranked third in the world for the number of fintech companies and leads in digital payment volumes, having processed 18,580 crore UPI transactions worth ₹261 lakh crore in 2024-25,” she said. Sharing that India has nearly half of the world's real-time digital transactions with adoption rates of 87% compared to the global average of 67%, she emphasised the importance of responsible innovation, regulation, and the need for fintechs to focus on fundamentals such as revenue growth, innovative product offerings, and risk management. Additionally, she advised that technology be used for the public good and not weaponised.

GFF 2025 is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; the Department of Economic Affairs and the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance; the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; the New, Emerging, and Strategic Technology Division, the Ministry of External Affairs; the Reserve Bank of India (RBI); the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI); the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI); and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).

Among other speakers at the session were Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman of the GFF2025 Advisory Council, Co-Founder of Infosys, and Chairman of Axilor Ventures, and Vishwas Patel, Joint Managing Director of Infibeam Avenues & Chairman of the Payments Council of India (PCI).

The finance minister concluded the keynote address by projecting that global fintech revenues will reach $1.5 trillion by 2030 and emphasised the importance of technology acting as a bridge, rather than a barrier.