Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology (SMI), a constituent unit of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Institution of Eminence Deemed-to-be University, concluded a two-day international conference on design-led innovation for inclusive, secure and sustainable financial systems at the MAHE Bengaluru campus. 

The conference, titled “Design-Led Innovation to Foster FinTech Ecosystem in Emerging Economies,” brought together policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, researchers, entrepreneurs, academicians and students to discuss financial inclusion, digital payments, Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven financial services, green fintech, entrepreneurship and innovation-led policymaking.

Delivering the inaugural address, S.Raman, Chairperson, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), announced that PFRDA is developing an AI-powered, explainable pension advisory platform to provide personalised financial guidance. He said the platform could eventually be expanded to insurance and securities, making trusted financial advice more accessible to citizens.

Raman also announced that PFRDA is redesigning the National Pension System (NPS) onboarding process by simplifying enrolment and reducing choices at the entry stage. In addition, he said the regulator is promoting multilingual, AI-enabled financial assistance, enabling citizens to interact with advisory systems in their preferred languages. He further announced the upcoming launch of NPS Swasthya, a bundled pension and health insurance product designed to strengthen citizens’ financial and health security.