Mumbai: “Tokenisation must be understood not merely as a technological upgrade but as a human-centred transformation. Imagine the word ‘token’ being called out in a bank or a café and you spring into action,” said Mr Vasudevan Parameswaran, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India, in a fireside chat at Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026, held from September 8–11, at Jio World Centre, Mumbai.
“Tokenisation can change the way we look at the digital financial ecosystem,” he added, underscoring the importance of experimentation and collaboration in developing new financial infrastructure. He noted that initiatives such as tokenisation, UPI, the Unified Lending Interface (ULI), and the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) have evolved as interconnected pieces of India’s broader digital public infrastructure.
GFF 2026 is organised by the Payments Council of India (PCI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC). The conference is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY); the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance; the NEST Division, Ministry of External Affairs; Niti Aayog; the RBI; SEBI; the IFSCA; and the PFRDA.
“Tokenisation carries your identity, your right over that asset. Everything is carried with you in a token,” Mr Vasudevan added, describing its potential to transform how assets are issued, traded, settled and serviced.
However, Mr Vasudevan warned against overlooking the risks of tokenising financial assets. “The existing financial ecosystem already works effectively, but there are challenges in legal clarity, data certainty, and privacy,” he said, adding that “a big challenge is interoperability. If multiple platforms emerge for tokenised assets and digital money, they will need to work with one another rather than develop as isolated systems.”
Session moderator Mr Akhilesh Tuteja, Partner, KPMG, called Agentic AI, Tokenisation, and Quantum the ‘Holy Trinity’ and emphasised the importance of tokenisation as the centrepiece, connecting the two other forces.
GFF 2026 is organised by the Payments Council of India (PCI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Fintech Convergence Council (FCC).
The conference is supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY); the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance; the New, Emerging and Strategic Technology (NEST) Division, the Ministry of External Affairs; Niti Aayog; the Reserve Bank of India (RBI); the Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI); the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).