The “M” factor in Financial Inclusion

Financial Inclusion (FI) has been a high priority area for successive governments over the last five decades and several initiatives have been taken to include 100% of the population, especially the marginalized, into the economic mainstream. However, on both Financial Inclusion (defined as the spread of financial institutions and financial services across the country) and Financial Depth (defined as the percentage of credit to GDP at various levels of the economy) the overall situation remains very poor and, on a regional and sectorial basis, very uneven. It assumes additional significance in a country like India which has immense diversity in almost all aspects of economic, health, education and social parameters, within its population. Advent of technology has significantly helped in these initiatives and of them, “mobile banking” is being seen as a game changer to boost financial inclusion. This article would collate various studies in the area of mobile banking and financial inclusion, till date to come up with an assessment of the ground situation as it exists today.