According to the Chief economic adviser at State Bank of India (SBI), India is now ahead of China in financial inclusion metrics.
India’s Financial Inclusion Metrics
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Mobile and Internet Banking Transactions: The mobile and Internet banking transactions have increased to 13,615 per 1,000 adults in 2020 from 183 in 2015.
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Bank Branches: The number of bank branches has reached up to 14.7 per 1 lakh adults in 2020 from 13.6 in 2015 which is higher than in Germany, China and South Africa.
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No Frills Account: The number of no-frills bank accounts has significantly increased. Of these, almost two-thirds are operational in rural and semi-urban areas and more than 78% of these accounts are with state-owned banks. Note: RBI had introduced ‘no-frills’ accounts in 2005 to provide basic banking facilities to the poor and promote financial inclusion. The accounts could be maintained without or with very low minimum balance.
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Banking Outlets: The number of banking outlets in villages / banking correspondent (BC) had increased from 34,174 in 2010 to 12.4 lakh in 2020. Note: Banking Correspondents (BCs) are individuals/entities engaged by a bank for providing banking services in unbanked/under-banked geographical territories.