Today, we are thrilled to announce Dr. Raghuram Rajan, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and Distinguished Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago, and Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash as our 2019 Swell keynote speakers.

The invite-only conference—hosted in Singapore, Nov. 7-8—brings together the world’s most trusted voices across financial services, payments, technology and policy to explore the new reality unfolding in global payments—and why it matters. Applications to attend are now open.

Swell’s opening keynote Dr. Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth. Previously, he was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and earlier Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Dr. Rajan is considered a key visionary behind India’s early adoption of mobile banking. His brainchild, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) that launched in 2016, is revolutionizing peer-to-peer payments and helping usher in India’s migration to a more digital society.

Our closing keynote, Kamal Quadir, is a practitioner who focuses his efforts on technology that brings about social progress by enabling people to advance economically. He is the CEO of bKash, a digital financial service that offers millions of unbanked and underbanked people access to financial services through basic cell phones or smartphones in Bangladesh. Earlier Quadir founded CellBazaar, a communication company that has introduced a cellphone-based electronic marketplace for developing countries.

Advancements in mobile technology are bringing financial inclusion and economic opportunities to emerging markets, but digital transformation at scale requires thoughtful regulation that protects consumers while fostering innovation. At a time when groundbreaking technology and regulation were on a potential collision course, Dr. Rajan and Quadir’s work ushering in a digital society brings to mind the efforts from our 2018 Swell keynote, former President Bill Clinton. As the internet took flight in the 1990’s, President Clinton worked to establish programs that would bridge the “digital divide” and bring new technology to underserved communities around the world.

We are at a similar moment in time. Today, digital assets and blockchain technology are impacting daily life. Financial institutions can deliver on the promise of instant, reliable cross-border payments—offering a better, lower-cost service to millions around the world.

This year, Swell includes a bold roster of payments experts and industry luminaries to discuss trends, successful blockchain implementations and real-world use cases for digital assets. Our speakers will share learnings about how today’s leading financial institutions are meeting growing customer demands for better, more accessible global payments.

Now is the time to change how the world moves money. The future that leaders across financial services, payments and technology industries have been envisioning for almost a decade is now here. What can we expect as this new reality unfolds? Find out at Swell.

Be sure to check Ripple Insights for updates. We will be announcing the agenda and even more speakers in the coming weeks. See you in Singapore!