Shri Manish Bhardwaj, Deputy Director General, UIDAI Delivers Keynote at Bharat Fintech Summit 2025
The Bharat Fintech Summit 2025, organized by The Digital Fifth, opened with an insightful keynote session by Shri Manish Bhardwaj, Deputy Director General, UIDAI. Shri Bhardwaj has been a key architect in strengthening India’s digital identity ecosystem through Aadhaar, one of the world’s largest and most successful digital identity programs.
Welcoming the audience, he emphasized the transformative role of UIDAI as a foundational Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for India, enabling innovation across the BFSI sector and beyond.
- Aadhaar: The World’s Largest Digital Identity
Launched in 2010, Aadhaar has grown into the largest digital identity program globally, with:
- 141 crore Aadhaar numbers issued
- 14,000 crore+ authentication transactions completed
- 90 million authentications per day
This massive scale has enabled inclusion, social welfare delivery, and the rise of the India Stack spurring innovations like UPI and expanding financial access through Jan Dhan accounts.
- Authentication at Scale
Shri Bhardwaj highlighted Aadhaar’s secure authentication framework:
- Biometric Authentication (fingerprint, iris, and face) – the most reliable and widely used method.
- OTP-based and demographic authentication – supporting flexibility.
- Robust Security Architecture – zero-trust principles, encryption at rest & in motion, and strict data privacy (biometrics are never shared, only authenticated in real-time).
UIDAI currently works with 550+ entities, including 230+ BFSI players—banks, NBFCs, insurance providers, payment aggregators, and telecom firms.
- Face Authentication: Anytime, Anywhere Identity Verification
One of the most exciting developments is Aadhaar Face Authentication, launched in 2021.
- Works on any entry-level smartphone (Android/iOS).
- Developed in-house by UIDAI using AI-based liveness detection.
- Already scaled to 12 crore authentications per month across 95 entities, including 38 banks.
- Expected to grow rapidly with more BFSI and fintech adoption.
This breakthrough enables contactless, secure, real-time authentication, ideal for customer onboarding, KYC, and digital service delivery.
- Opening Aadhaar to Private Sector Innovation
Traditionally, Aadhaar authentication was limited to government bodies and regulated entities (banks, insurers, telecom). But with the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance Rules (2025 amendment), private entities can now leverage Aadhaar for:
- E-commerce
- Digital lockers
- Credit rating & assessment
- Custom KYC services
- Travel, tourism, and more
UIDAI will soon launch a dedicated onboarding portal for private players, making Aadhaar authentication accessible at scale.
- Aadhaar: A Catalyst for India’s Digital Growth
Shri Bhardwaj concluded by reaffirming Aadhaar’s role as the foundation of India’s digital economy, enabling secure identity, powering fintech innovation, and supporting India’s march towards becoming the world’s third-largest economy by 2027.
With Aadhaar’s face authentication technology and expanded private-sector access, the BFSI sector is poised for the next wave of inclusive, secure, and scalable digital transformation.
