State Bank of India Chairman CS Setty on Tuesday suggested creation of a national financial grid, a unified infrastructure layer connecting credit bureaus, fraud registries, eKYC, UPI, and account aggregator frameworks.
“The ULI framework is a step in the right direction. But we need to evolve it into a grid that offers open access across the ecosystem,” Setty said at the CII Financing Summit.
He also proposed the Indian Digital Payment Intelligence Corporation (IDPIC), a shared infrastructure entity modelled on the NPCI, to enable real-time intelligence sharing among banks. “This is one of the most ambitious projects, perhaps as transformative as UPI itself,” Setty said.
He emphasised that embedding AI for anomaly detection could create a collective shield against fraud, enhancing customer protection and systemic trust. Setty highlighted the need to democratise access to MSME credit. “Millions of small businesses still struggle. We need to build digital twins for every MSME, which are secure real-time financial identities that integrate GST, IT returns, bank history, and utility payments,” he said.
SBI’s own business rule engine now enables MSME loan approvals in 10 to 15 minutes, but Setty stressed that the broader infrastructure is needed to be scaled up across institutions. “To achieve sustainable long-term growth, the focus must be on infrastructure, inclusivity, innovation, and intelligence.