Taking Financial Inclusion to the Next Level

Abstract:

Banks and business correspondents (BCs), under the policy and regulatory directions, and supervision of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) are making concerted efforts towards financial inclusion (FI). In January 2012, MicroSave facilitated a dialogue amongst select banks, and institutional/MNO (mobile network operator) BCs to reflect on the progress made, the lessons learned, challenges faced and identify critical areas needing attention and collaborative efforts. It emerged that the sector has reached a critical inflexion point, where certain actions are inevitably required to take financial inclusion to the next level. These are essentially around developing BC as an additional banking channel; driving viability and making BCs sustainable through various interventions and risk mitigation mechanisms; and coherence of policies and directives from various quarters.

Tags: BC, Interoperability, Agent banking, RBI, Policy, Branchless banking , No frill saving accounts, Financial inclusion, Agent management, Agent network manager, IFN90, IFN 90, ANM, Reserve Bank of India, NFA, India, South Asia, MicroSave, MicroSave india, Retail banks , E/M-banking, Business model, Industry analysis, Mobile banking, Institutional change, Business correspondent, Banking correspondent