FINANCIAL INCLUSION - NEWS AND VIEWS - JULY 2017

 
 

The Supreme Court has done it again. In its hearing of petitions against Aadhaar, on 27th June, it refused to stay the government’s order of mandatory linking Aadhaar to PAN. It also refused to pass any order against mandatory use of Aadhaar for welfare schemes. The Court maintained that mere apprehension of exclusion due to Aadhaar was not enough, and a specific instance of denial of benefits was required for the Court to take action. (Mint, 27th June 2017). The next hearing is scheduled for 7th July. Meanwhile the government is pushing ahead and has amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, notifying mandatory linking of all bank accounts with Aadhaar by this year end (Business Standard, 17th June 2017).

For those getting bewildered by the noise for and against Aadhaar, a must read piece is N. S. Ramnath’s analysis of the critical issues being debated, “The Aadhaar debate: Is common ground possible?”(Founding Fuel, 17th June 2017).

It is fifty years since the now ubiquitous ATM came into the world, marking the first step away from branch based banking. As countries move on the less-cash trajectory, the next fifty years can see a transformation with ATMs replicating many non-cash services currently provided for at branches. Some examples of the new age machines have been put forth by Patrick Collinson (The Guardian, 10th June 2017). The conveniences of smart ATMs will come at a price though, so customers may have to gear up for more service charges.

The Reserve Bank of India has amended the Banking Ombudsman Scheme and customers can now raise complaints relating to mis-selling and mobile/electronic banking (RBI, 23rd June 2017). Monika Halan recounts the journey over the past decade in getting the RBI to even recognise the problem of mis-selling, a compelling read for all those who are aiming for change in regulation (Mint, 28th June, 2017).

The bottom line has to be: Customer is king. Just as regulators have to tune more into customer protection, financial service providers also must focus more on customer needs. Over the past few years, access to financial services has improved dramatically and with digital modes, coverage will be more complete. It is now time to concentrate on increasing usage of financial services. Some of the trends ahead have been highlighted in a report by CGAP, “Vision of the Future: Financial Inclusion 2025”. Indian bankers, who have so far borne heavy expenses to provide universal access to banking, can reap rich dividends if they recognise the opportunities that lie in inclusion.


 

Bankers & SME Borrowers: The Emerging Mantras: Shri S. S. Mundra, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, June 16, 2017
Limits on balances in customer accounts with payments banks – sweep out arrangements with other banks
Pradhan Mantri Jan - Dhan Yojana
Monthly Report sent to PMO for the month of May, 2017 on DBT

 
 

Block chain and financial inclusion

• Monitoring the Progress of Financial Inclusion in India - Policy Brief March 2017


 

Aadhaar pays see 6-fold jump in rural areas in Oct-April
FINO becomes payments bank
Paytm Payments Bank to launch UPI-based service
Aditya Birla Group May Launch Payments Bank by Year End
'Regulators must keep pace with tech disruption'
Odisha turns to payments banks, SFBs to tap unbanked areas
Payments banks allowed to act as BCs of other lenders
DigiGaon pilot to start in three states
Bharat Financial to roll out 2 lakh Kirana Points in 16 states
Plus and minus points of payment banks
Cashlite Ramnagar - A pilot on creating 'less-cash' ecosystems
Digitally Enabled Karangamal Panchayat - A Documentary
Re-imagining Agent Network Management - What Have We Learnt?
Using SMS Messaging to Strengthen Your Agent Network
Transactions Want to Be Free
A Practitioner and a Regulator Talk Digital Credit
Traders in Refugee Camps: Overlooked Opportunity in Bulk Payments
Remittance Frontiers: Banking Without Borders
Can Emergency Cash Transfers Lead to Financial Inclusion?


 

Mobile Data for Social Good: GSMA and UN Global Pulse, 29 June 2017
Redesigning DFS for Big Data:Helix Institute of Digital Finance, 22 May 2017

 


Editor:sumita@indicus.org 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. ©Indicus Centre for Financial Inclusion. All rights reserved. 4thMay 2017
 

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

Newsletters

April-2022 Indian banks – blind to inclusion opportunities

  ... Continue Reading

March-2022 Fixing the Ecosystem: BC certification, Gender sensitization & more!

The availability of... Continue Reading

February-2022 UPI - Changing the way Indians transact!

  India’s progress in financial inclusion and digital payments over the past few years has been beautifully brought out by the Economic Survey 2021-22, which has thankfully,... Continue Reading

January-2022 Business Correspondents get the attention they deserve, finally!

  Last month, in December 2021, the Department of Financial Services constituted a Working Group to go into the issues and challenges affecting the business correspondent (BC)... Continue Reading

December-2021 India needs 2,00,000 Bank Sakhis!

  Results from the National Family Health Survey Round 5 2019-21 are out, further validating India’s phenomenal progress in financial inclusion – 77.4% of rural Indian women... Continue Reading

November-2021 Let’s Raise the Drumbeat to Push RBI for Gender-Disaggregated Data!

  This Diwali, we did a quick roundup of India’s financial inclusion progress and picked out the key challenges we need to crack. Laveesh and I have been analysing and... Continue Reading

October-2021 Rising Prices Dim the Cheer of a Recovering Economy

  This Diwali just might see more cheer than expected as the aftermath of the second wave recedes. Several high-frequency indicators have shown a recovery... Continue Reading

September-2021 PhonePe's data dashboard shows the way; Will NPCI and RBI oblige too?

  India is going through a V-shaped recovery, as the impact of the second wave recedes. However, growth... Continue Reading

August-2021 Listening to the Customer is Key to Expanding Inclusion

  As the second wave of the pandemic died down in India, the economy began a patchy recovery –... Continue Reading

July-2021 RBI Steps Forward on Activity-based Regulation for Microfinance

  With the second wave of the pandemic receded, the economy is picking up slowly. However, local... Continue Reading

June-2021 Coordinated Approach at District Level Needed for Inclusion for the Last...

  The times are bad, very bad. Last year, with a drastic national lockdown, India chose to save lives... Continue Reading

May-2021 The Second Wave hits Lives and Livelihoods

  The times are bad, very bad. Last year, with a drastic national lockdown, India chose to save lives... Continue Reading

Copyright © 2015 - All Rights Reserved