A significant majority (57%) of India's investment advisors are concentrated in just five metro cities, leading to concerns about financial inclusion and the spread of financial market products beyond urban centres, according to a Business Standard analysis of Sebi data.
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Financial Health, visited Mumbai to understand India's digital public infrastructure, including UPI and AI, in improving financial health for salaried individuals. She interacted with healthcare professionals and SalarySe leaders, praising India's advancements in financial inclusion and technology's role in empowering individuals.
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday exhorted the fledgling fintech ecosystem to focus on the underserved sections of the society to deepen financial inclusion. Speaking at the annual Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, Malhotra accepted that serving the "privileged" will be a lucrative business, but urged the smaller companies to focus on the underserved.
Bharti Airtel is strategically shifting its focus towards data centres, cloud services, and financial services as key drivers for its next phase of growth, leveraging significant past investments in digital infrastructure, as outlined by Chairman Sunil Mittal in the company's Annual Report for 2025-26.
Meghalaya has shown significant progress in digital transactions and financial inclusion, recording 32.76 crore digital transactions and nearly 10 lakh Jan Dhan accounts by 2025-26. Efforts like the JAM Trinity and financial literacy programmes have expanded banking access, with a high percentage of bank account holders adopting digital modes. The next phase focuses on enhancing financial literacy and cyber resilience, especially in rural areas.
India and Nepal have launched a peer-to-peer (P2P) cross-border remittance mechanism, linking India's UPI with Nepal's NPI. This system allows real-time money transfers via mobile banking, enhancing convenience for travellers and businesses, fostering financial inclusion, and strengthening economic ties between the two nations.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed allowing celebrity endorsements for its regulated entities like AMCs and stock brokers, but only at the brand level, not for specific products or services, as part of a major overhaul of advertisement codes.
Enterprising women business correspondents, known as BC Sakhis, have facilitated transactions worth Rs 27,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh, earning Rs 75 crore in commission over the past four and a half years. BC Sakhis, appointed under the nationwide women empowerment programme, are members of self-help groups (SHGs) who are trained and certified to provide banking and financial services in rural areas.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said financial inclusion will continue to be a "policy priority" for the central bank to make the post-pandemic recovery more equitable and sustainable. The Reserve Bank of India will very soon be coming out with the first financial inclusion index, which will assess progress in terms of access, usage and quality, Das said, while speaking at the Economic Times Financial Inclusion Summit. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that the financial ecosystem (including the digital medium) is inclusive and capable of effectively addressing risks like mis-selling, cybersecurity, data privacy and promoting trust in the financial system through appropriate financial education and awareness, he added.
State Bank of India Chairman C S Setty has expressed support for a 'pause' in policy rates by the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee, believing it will help stabilise conditions and support economic growth. He also urged investors to look beyond short-term equity market movements and focus on India's structural transformation, driven by reforms and digital infrastructure.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions moderated slightly in June from a record high in May, reaching Rs 28.9 lakh crore. Despite a month-on-month decrease in volume, the daily average transactions hit a new high, indicating UPI's strong adoption for low-value payments. The platform also demonstrated significant annual growth and expanding international presence.
The essence of financial inclusion is to ensure that a range of appropriate financial services is available to every individual and enable them to understand and access those services.
India was on Friday accorded the vice presidency of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body that sets standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, for the first time.
Days after the PM announced a financial inclusion package, a look at how banks and insurance firms are going about it and what lies ahead.
Business systems that serve customers who are starkly above or below the average customer on any parameter need to be differently designed. Forcing one-size-fits-all products is not a good solution, says Rama Bijapurkar.
Financial inclusion has been on the top of the govt's top agenda.
Trai chairman Rajiv Khullar says, India has to pull up its stocks in order to achieve financial inclusion.
NPCI BHIM Services Ltd is expanding the BHIM app to feature phones to increase financial inclusion and diversify revenue through financial product distribution. The app aims to double its market share and is focusing on partnerships with banks and new features like UPI Circle.
Sources said bank chiefs would discuss the challenges of taking the UID project ahead by accessing the data available with the branch network (for corroborate identity). Bank branches have extensive nationwide data about their customers. Unique identity envisages authentication -- "Are you who you claim to be?
'We can integrate AI and tech into education, but that is just a means and not an end.' 'Ultimately, we need to control what happens in a classroom and we need to let teachers innovate their teaching style to suit the needs of Gen Z and beyond.'
USAID looks forward to working with each to make financial inclusion a long-lasting and sustainable reality in India.
The efforts will also be made to introduce mobile banking on all kinds of phones, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after meeting the heads of PSU banks here on Thursday.
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Usage of mobile technology in financial service will help the financial inclusion initiative and enhance delivery systems, said the D&B report on the BFSI sector.
A top official of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said banks are in a better position as compared with other entities to lead the financial inclusion goal in India, though mobile companies have been allowed to partner them.
Kumar Mangalam Birla urged young people to 'build in India, build for India and build for the world'.
At a time when the Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) have drawn flak due to steep interest rates charged by them, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty has categorically stated that such institutions cannot play any role in financial inclusion.
The Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee under RBI Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty is expected to suggest appropriate regulatory framework to ensure that financial inclusion and financial stability move in tandem, the RBI said in a statement.
The government has decided to chalk out a two-year programme to push financial inclusion initiatives by banks to bring it in line with the unique identity plan for the country.
PM has asked the Reserve Bank to prepare a 20-year road map for financial inclusion
Jio Payments Bank introduces UPI-based cash withdrawals at business correspondent touchpoints, enhancing financial inclusion and simplifying access to cash for rural and semi-urban customers.
Jio Financial Services and Munich-based Allianz Group have signed a binding agreement to establish a 50:50 joint venture for general and health insurance in India, building on an earlier reinsurance partnership.
South leads; North-East at bottom but moves ahead, finds out the IndiaSpend Team
The Reserve Bank of India's proposal to allow non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) access to the term money market is projected to significantly increase market volumes by 40-60 per cent in the first year, potentially doubling turnover within two to three years, according to treasury executives.
ICICI Bank has 317 branches in hitherto unbanked villages.
The Indian corporate bond market witnessed a significant surge, with companies raising nearly Rs 16,000 crore in a single day, primarily led by state-owned financial institutions and NBFCs. This strong momentum, driven by improved borrowing conditions and investor confidence, is expected to persist.
The Reserve Bank of India's Financial Stability Report indicates that the interim peace deal between the US and Iran has favourably shifted the balance of risks, reducing headwinds from the West Asia conflict. However, it cautions that exchange rate volatility could increase if crude oil prices spike due to delayed normalisation of supply chain disruptions.
Bank of Baroda has partnered with Reliance Jio to provide access to its mobile banking application, 'bob World Lite', for users of Jio feature phones, aiming to promote financial inclusion and digital payments.
Long-duration bonds allow investors to match investment tenure with long-term liabilities and also stabilise their long-duration portfolios.
Within two weeks of the speech, the prime minister flagged off the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, and the day was marked by announcing its outcome on the very first day of its implementation.
Modi's comments on underlining the importance of ensuring the safety of seafarers came against the backdrop of growing anger in India over the killing of the three Indian crew members in a US military attack on a merchant ship off the coast of Oman last week.
