The Road to Financial Inclusion in India: Almost There, but Still A Long Way to Go

...... Based on the numbers released by the RBI, it is easy to view the first phase of the initiative as a success. Millions of Indians have gained access to financial services in the last few years. “What could not be done in the last 50 years has been done in the last six,” commented Usha Thorat, a retired RBI Deputy Governor, when speaking about the initiative’s impressive results. Indeed, the FPI has allowed many of the poorest in India to open bank accounts by easing the regulatory environment for banks to open branches in rural areas. However, most of this expansion has come through “business correspondents” (BCs) and not because of an increase in the number of banks operating in rural areas.........

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