USAID looks forward to working with each to make financial inclusion a long-lasting and sustainable reality in India.
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?
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.
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.
By democratising access to finance, empowering women and marginalised groups, and adapting to India's diverse regional landscapes, PMMY has helped fortify the country's grassroots growth engines, says Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, V Anantha Nageswaran.
PM has asked the Reserve Bank to prepare a 20-year road map for financial inclusion
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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.
Since the first Aadhaar number was issued in September 2010, more than 1.33 billion Aadhaar cards have been generated till June 2022. With the Aadhaar enrolment of adult Indians nearing 100 per cent, the main objective of the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), which was to give Unique Identification numbers (UID) to all residents of India, is almost achieved, said a senior government official. "Enrolment will now be much more update-based, because people keep updating their mobile numbers and addresses.
The co-operative banking sector is well regulated, and a few cases of restrictions being imposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should not paint a negative picture of the entire sector, said Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary Ajay Seth on Monday. "Co-operative banks in the country are generally quite robust, and the RBI takes regulatory action whenever issues arise.
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.
'With a very stable technology with limited functionalities, a large network has spanned out.'
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.
There were concerns that simply opening a bank account wouldn't constitute meaningful financial inclusion, as the poor would rarely use these accounts. However, recent data submitted to Parliament attests to increased account usage, says Ishan Bakshi.
UPI topped Rs 24 trillion in value of transactions and 19 billion in volume for the first time after becoming operational in April 2016.
South leads; North-East at bottom but moves ahead, finds out the IndiaSpend Team
ICICI Bank has 317 branches in hitherto unbanked villages.
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.
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.
State Bank of India (SBI) - the country's largest lender - has unveiled two new schemes to boost deposit mobilisation at a time when most banks are facing challenges in raising resources. The first is 'Har Ghar Lakhpati,' a pre-calculated recurring deposit (RD) scheme designed to help customers accumulate Rs 100,000 or multiples thereof and develop a savings habit.
The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday allowed for-profit companies with large and widespread retail outlets to act as business correspondents. The move will both deepen and broaden financial inclusion. Non-banking finance companies, however, have been excluded from the list.
India needs to find Rs 75,000 crore of new money from somewhere to lend to those among the poorest.
Job creation, improving farm productivity, and mobilising public funds for infrastructure development were some of the issues that figured during the interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and economists ahead of the 2025-26 Union Budget. The prime minister on Tuesday met eminent economists and sectoral experts at NITI Aayog to hear their views and suggestions for the upcoming Budget. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Budget for 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha on February 1, 2025.
Outgoing Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Tuesday that restoring inflation-growth balance is the most important task ahead of the central bank. Addressing a press conference on his last day as the central bank chief, Das said his successor will have to navigate the changing world order, effectively deal with cyber threats, and focus on harnessing new technologies.
Equity mutual funds witnessed a remarkable surge in inflows to nearly Rs 4 lakh crore in 2024, more than double the amount recorded in the preceding year, reflecting strong investor confidence and a continued shift towards long-term investing, particularly through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs).
'If you are not prudent, you may exceed your budget, and if it happens too often, you may end up in debt.'
Recently, the government announced yet another ambitious scheme aimed at providing health insurance to 50 crore individuals.
India is pushing for greater disclosures by credit card companies, fintech firms, and payment aggregators (PAs) at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), so that the sender and recipient in a cross-border financial transaction can be easily identified and the information shared with law enforcement agencies. Separately, the inter-governmental group, which sets standards to curb money laundering, will release the fourth round of its mutual evaluation report on India on September 19. FATF in June had adopted the mutual evaluation report on India and placed the country in the "regular follow-up" category - the highest rating given by the global watchdog and a distinction shared by only four other G20 countries.
Facing criticism from the government over the central bank prioritising inflation over growth, the new RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Monday said that prospects of the Indian economy are expected to improve on the back of high consumer and business confidence in 2025. "As we strive to preserve financial stability to support a higher growth path for the Indian economy, our focus remains steadfast on maintaining stability of financial institutions and, more broadly, systemic stability," Malhotra said in foreword to the Financial Stability Report.
According to a PMO statement, Narendra Modi told banks this would be a source of immense satisfaction for them, and that he himself would recognise the achievements of the best performing branches.
'The impact of CBDC on deposits and deposit insurance is largely unknown.'
This will be the first full-year Budget of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government since it came to power for a third consecutive term in July last year.
The average value of retail digital payments dropped 48 per cent from Rs 8,769 in March 2021 to Rs 4,560 in March 2024 due to a growing preference to use digital modes of transactions for small value payments, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) report on the trend and progress of banking in India.
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recognised the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) as a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) in the fintech sector, the central bank announced on Wednesday. The banking regulator received three applications for fintech SRO. Of the remaining two applications, one has been returned by the RBI with a provision for resubmission after meeting specific requirements, while the third application is still under examination, said Governor Shaktikanta Das at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai.
'There is more expansion in the industry happening in retail lines, so we will continue to focus on those lines.'
The number of cyberfraud cases has skyrocketed from 2,677 in 1999-2000 to 29,082 in FY24 -- more than a 10-fold increase. The RBI pegs digital payment frauds at Rs 1,457 crore in FY24, up more than five times in a year. It's not just the number of frauds. What's alarming is the growing sophistication of the fraudsters, exposing the vulnerabilities within the financial system, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
As many as 75 million households that do not have access to banking services will be covered and at least one bank account opened for each household, against the earlier proposal of two.
The Union Finance Ministry on Tuesday said that aggregate business of public sector banks (PSBs) has shown strong growth of 11 per cent in the first half of the financial year 2024-25 (H1FY25) to touch Rs 236 trillion. The operating and net profit were also robust. At Rs 1.5 trillion, operating profit grew by 14.4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) while the net profit saw an impressive 25.6 per cent jump at Rs 85,520 crore in the first half of FY25.
According to the Reserve Bank of India's data, cash still accounts for 90 per cent of all monetary transactions in India.
A well-run non-banking company has better margins than a bank, but the objective of setting up Ujjivan was to provide comprehensive financial inclusion, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank MD & CEO Samit Ghosh tells Anup Roy in an interview.
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