Financial Inclusion In India

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

In India, while one segment of the population has access to an assortment of banking services and financial counseling, the other segment of underprivileged and lower income group is totally deprived of even basic financial services. Exclusion of large segments of the society from financial services adversely affects the overall economic growth of a country. In order to ensure financial inclusion of the poor, particularly in rural areas, various initiatives have been taken by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). These include the nationalization of commercial banks, the establishment and expansion of rural credit co-operatives, regional rural banks, urban co-operative banks, micro finance and self-help groups, mutual funds, and pension funds. There are several challenges that require concerted efforts from banks, the RBI, and India's government to ensure a convenient and cost-effective delivery of financial services to the public at large. In particular, the challenge is to introduce innovations in risk assessment, reduce transaction costs, devise new credit delivery channels, and use information technology to make financial inclusion a viable model. This book examines the various policies and programs that were implemented in order to make financial services more accessible to the country's underprivileged income groups, resulting in millions of bank accounts being opened. [Subject: India Studies, Economics, Poverty Studies, Development Studies]

We examine how the development of the digital infrastructure known as the “India Stack”—including an interoperable payments system, a universal digital ID, and other features—is delivering on the government’s objective to expand the provision of financial services. While each individual component of the India Stack is important, we argue that its key overarching feature is a foundational approach of providing extensive public infrastructures and standards that generates important synergies across the layers of the Stack. Until recently, a large share of India’s population lacked access to formal banking services and was largely reliant on cash for financial transactions. The expansion of mobile-based financial services that enable simple and convenient ways to save and conduct financial transactions has provided a novel alternative for expanding the financial net. The Stack’s improved digital infrastructures have already allowed for a rapid increase in the use of digital payments and the entry of a range of competitors including fintech and bigtech firms.

One of the major tools of attaining proper development all around the world is creating wealth and economic inclusion, such that all classes of people can secure their lifestyles through access to financial services from formal sectors. Expanding access to resources and increasing self-employment opportunities help reduce poverty and improve social development. Wealth Creation and Poverty Reduction: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice examines trends, challenges, issues, and strategies related to the creation of livelihood options through the redistribution of resources, foreign aid, private sector activities, and other methods. Highlighting a range of topics such as microfinance, poverty alleviation, and socio-economic development, this publication is an ideal reference source for government officials, policymakers, executives, economists, analysts, researchers, academicians, professionals, and students interested in wealth creation in areas of extreme poverty.

Financial inclusion has been one of the most propagated ideologies in countries, and as a result, significant efforts have been taken to nurture institutions and systems to include an array of socio-economic classes. Various financial institutions and societies have taken steps toward financial inclusion, but to be successful, they need to understand how to accurately target and market their potential customers as well as the new avenues for development. Marketing Techniques for Financial Inclusion and Development is a critical scholarly resource on the marketing techniques adopted by various financial institutions and societies for promoting financial inclusion initiatives for the development of the society at large. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as consumer awareness, financial literacy, and micro-enterprises, this book is geared towards managers, investors, brokers, researchers, and all others within the banking industry.