Panel Discussions

Financial inclusion of every Indian

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In an era where all of us are constantly bothered about GDP figures, it’s a shame that about 40% of Indians still don’t have access to banking. So clearly the numbers that we are so proud of do not reflect the true picture. While companies like Eko India Financial Services are doing their part in reaching out to people who don’t have an account by making banking simpler, much is still desired. One of the reasons why many people shun from the idea of opening a bank account is that they find the entire process tedious and feel that it’s of no real benefit to them.

Its time financial benefits percolate to every section of the society. Two measures need to be taken in this direction. Firstly we need to improve the penetration of banks. At the moment 99.7 percent of the 74,414 villages having a population above 2000 have been covered. Now the challenge is to cover all the remaining unbanked villages. Most banks are not motivated to make extra efforts because of the very low margins involved in this business. Secondly many people have detestation for the banking system which needs to be overcome by educating them about the benefits of banking.
 

With the government declaring that every household needs to have at least one savings bank account to enable direct transfer of benefits under the government’s financial inclusion plan, the RBI and the other state banks are making considerable efforts in this direction. However the private sector also lending a hand in this endeavour will help in speeding up this process considerably.