The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.
August - 2009 - issue > Technology
Branchless Banking & Financial Inclusion
Anuj Kumar and Himanshu Gupta
The Scenario – Did you know:
Financial inclusion has been a focus of attention in recent times. However, the facts above reveal the real and somewhat uncomfortable picture. The increase in the number of branches has not answered the needs of the farmers; and reaching the unbanked population to enable inclusive growth is a serious problem today. Branchless banking could be the big step towards providing easy financial access to the poor people and achieving financial inclusion.
The Initiatives
It has been over two decades since microfinance initiatives were introduced in India, but financial inclusion still remains a distant dream. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has shown sincere interest in this matter and the following initiatives have been taken:
The Target
Committee reports submitted to the Indian government call for access to financial services, including credit, to be raised to 50 percent by 2012 and 100 percent by 2015.
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