Financial Inclusion- News and Views - January 2014

 

January 2014

We begin the year with a comprehensive overview of the status of financial inclusion in India and the challenges ahead, through two lead stories: a) a speech by Shri P. Vijaya Bhaskar, ED, RBI, that evaluates the process of inclusion in India and brings out precise issues for each stakeholder, and b) the annual survey by CGAP and College of Agricultural Banking that assesses the performance of customer service points or banking agents in India, an update from the field over the results from 2012.

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Lead Stories

Financial Inclusion in India- An Assessment

In this speech, Shri P. Vijaya Bhaskar, Executive Director, RBI, has put together data from various sources to highlight the status of financial inclusion in India. Though there has been an overall improvement in terms of critical parameters such as bank branch penetration, deposit penetration and credit penetration, India still lags behind globally on these parameters. He also specifies the list of issues stakeholder-wise. For instance, the need to adequately compensate the banking agents, increase support and training by banks, enhancing ATM networks in rural and unbanked areas etc.

2013 India: National Survey of Branchless Banking Agents

The national survey of banking agents or customer service points (CSPs) was conducted for the first time in 2012 by CGAP and the College of Agricultural Banking. The results from the 2013 survey released recently bring out the major issues that plague the performance of CSPs, while showing that the conditions of CSPs have worsened over the year. For instance, while the number of CSPs has increased, there been no increase in the average number of daily transactions. Moreover, 16% of all surveyed CSPs had never transacted, while this share was just 5% in 2012. While those agents giving government payments perform better than others on a number of parameters, most CSPs have been put in place to meet financial inclusion targets and the majority are still not linked to G2P delivery.

Section I: Policy – the latest from India’s policymakers

Economic and Financial Developments in Mizoram

Shri. Deepak Mohanty, Executive Director, RBI, December 19, 2013

Financial Sector Reforms

Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, Governor, RBI, December 12, 2013

Moving Financial Capability Forward: Innovation Scale and Impact

Dr. Deepali Pant Joshi, Executive Director, RBI, December 9, 2013

Credit Scoring- An effective way to ensure availability of timely and adequate credit to MSEs

Dr.K.C.Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI, December 4, 2013

Section II: News and Views Digest – the latest from India and abroad

India

Financial inclusion gains momentum, says CRISIL

Autonomy for ATMs

The challenge of financial inclusion

India Post draws up Rs 4,900-crore ATM network plan

Eko brings no-fuss mobile banking, financial inclusion to India

Kotak Mahindra launches financial inclusion programme

Technology can make financial inclusion of underprivileged women possible

Financial sector requires half million semi-skilled and skilled workforce

Huge untapped potential exists in the 'rurban' market: Report

SBFCs can play much bigger role in financial inclusion: Sinha

ICICI stress on quality in inclusion drive

US-based MFI think tank wants RBI to allow financial access to the physically disadvantaged

Financial inclusion: viable model critical

Credit to non-farm business to be under general credit card scheme

International

Islamic Banking remains niche market in North Africa

Mobile Money: 10 things you need to know

10 things you may not know about financial capability

Nigeria: Promoting financial inclusion via e-payment, mobile banking

Cell phone turns into bank for the unbanked

Financial inclusion in Myanmar: 10 things you should know

Prioritizing complaints handling with third party ombudsmen

Nicaragua’s system for resolving financial complaints

Complaints handling: A secret ingredient to financial inclusion

Global landscape of digital finance plus

Addressing big development challenges with financial innovation

Ugandans sidestep banks, embrace mobile money

Section III: Research – surveys and studies on expanding access to financial services

Designing Customer-Centric Branchless Banking Offerings

Claudia McKay and Yanina Seltzer, CGAP, December 20, 2013

Towards De-risking Disasters

Sunil Bhat and Premasis Mukherjee, MicroSave, December 16, 2013

Making Recourse Work for Base-of-the-Pyramid Financial Consumers

Megan Chapman and Rafe Mazer, CGAP Focus Note 90, December 13, 2013

Listen In Order To Protect Clients

Annielyn Obedoza-Pangan, and Jesila Ledesma, MicroSave Briefing Note 146, December 03, 2013

 

Research

Serving the inclusion goal profitably

Policy Brief November, 2013

Digital payments and inclusion - Part I: Building a cost-effective robust infrastructure

Policy Brief October, 2013

Digital payments and inclusion - Part 2: Facilitating mobile payments

Policy Brief October, 2013

In the media

The next salvo in digital payments

Financial Express, 15 November 2013

Strong signals for mobile banking

Financial Express, 10 October 2013

Blog

(UN)TYING THE KNOTS OF FINANCIAL EXCLUSION: Post by Deepak Maheshwari

Using electronic payments for social transfers – lessons from Andhra Pradesh

“World Bank Reboot and Implications for Financial Inclusion”: Post by Deepak Maheshwari

TRAI’s recommendations for financial inclusion

“Over-borrowing: Common to US, Bosnia- Herzegovina, India and the US?”: Deepak Maheshwari

 
 

Editor: Sumita Kale can be contacted at icfi@indicus.net

The Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion was launched in 2011 to distil and disseminate information on accelerating the poor’s access to high-quality financial services. The Centre is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. http://www.indicus.net/icfi

© Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved. 31st December 2013.

 

Newsletters from July 2020 are available at https://icfi.substack.com/

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