Why 2015 Will Be Important for Financial Inclusion in India

Monday, January 19, 2015

The year 2015 could be a watershed year for India in its quest to provide access to a wide range of financial services to all its citizens.

In particular, developments expected in February and September could pave the way forward for financial inclusion in the country.

This is besides what public-sector banks do to take the story further after opening a large number of bank accounts last year under the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana to tap the unbanked population of India.

The reason February is important is because the second day of the month is the last date announced by the Reserve Bank of India to submit applications for small finance banks and payment banks.

This is arguably the first opportunity to some financial intermediaries to get involved in offering a complete range of financial services that a bank can offer.

After this date it will be clear how many applications the RBI received for such banks and how many among them are microfinance institutions, which have always evinced interest in offering bank-like services to the poor.

Source: Business Today (link opens in a new window)

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