Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Thursday urged fintech companies to treat customer data as a fiduciary responsibility rather than a business asset, while calling on them to expand financial services to underserved sections of the population. Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest 2026, Malhotra said the potential of fintech innovation would be fully realised only when it reaches the last mile, including informal-sector workers, women entrepreneurs, MSMEs, farmers and customers in Tier-3 and Tier-4 towns.