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New Delhi, Jan 22 () The Finance Ministry will showcase achievements of the financial inclusion drive through a tableau during the Republic Day parade on January 26.
 The Defence Ministry has selected the design of Department of Financial Services (DFS) of Ministry of Finance for taking part in the parade.
 Besides DFS, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, NDRF Ministry of Home Affairs, CPWD Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, and Ministry of Shipping will also participate in the Republic Day parade, according to a Defence Ministry release.
 Financial inclusion programme initiated in mission mode since August 2014 to ensure access to financial services - banking/ savings &amp; deposit accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, pension.
Under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana as many as 37.87 crore accounts have been opened with total deposit of Rs 1.12 lakh crore.
 India's financial inclusion efforts have won recognition from the World Bank as their data indicated that 55 per cent of new bank accounts were opened are from India.
As per the World Bank Global Findex Report 2017, adult bank account holders in India increased to 80 per cent in 2017 as compared to 53 per cent in 2014 and 35 per cent in 2011.
The report acknowledged impact of government policy in reducing gaps in bank account ownership between rich and poor to 5 per cent in 2017, down from 15 per cent in 2014.
 Besides, the government also initiated insuring the uninsured. Under this, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Atal Pension Yojana was launched in 2015.
 The PMJJBY offers life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh in case of death due to any reason to people in the age group of 18-50 years having a bank or post office account, who give their consent to join or enable auto-debit of premium of Rs 330 per annum.
The PMSBY offers insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh for accidental death or total permanent disability and Rs 1 lakh for partial permanent disability to people in the age group of 18-70 years with a bank or post office account, who give their consent to join or enable auto-debit of premium of Rs 12 per annum. DP DP MR
MR

Finmin to showcase achievements of financial inclusion at Republic Day parade

Jammu, Feb 15 () A mass outreach campaign for financial inclusion has been launched by the finance department in close coordination with Union Territory Level Bankers' Committee (UTLBC) in Jammu and Kashmir, an official circular said. "The objective of the campaign, inter alia, is to achieve complete financial literacy of the entire population and to enhance the livelihood options for the people, who have been traditionally left out of such endeavours," read the circular, issued by the Under Secretary (Finance Department) Shafqat Ali Keen on Friday. It said the campaign would be run by all the banks operating in the Union territory, including the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and would endeavour to link up self-help groups (SHGs), farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and aggregation to act as agents of transformation. "Efforts shall be redoubled to increase enrolments under PMJDY, PMJJBY, PMSBY, SUPI, Mudra loan and APY. Under PMJDY, PMSBY and PMJJBY targets have also been assigned to the banks to reach milestones of 22 lakh accounts in PMJDY and 8 lakh and 4 lakh enrolments under PMSBY and PMJJBY respectively by the end of campaign," it said. In order to reach out to all the segments of the population in each district, the circular said all lead district manager (LDM) across the UT have been advised to organise special camps during the campaign period to push credit growth and enhance enrolments under different social security schemes in their districts. The circular advised all district development commissioners to extend full cooperation to LDMs in organising special camps during the campaign in their districts and also involve panchayati raj institution functionaries like panches, sarpanches and BDC Chairmen to spread awareness amongst the people about the different financial inclusion schemes of the central government and UT. TAS HRS

Special financial inclusion outreach campaign launched in J&K

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gop32000/7352877340/in/photolist-ccKqgf-dV6pmX-aEbhvW-fw58-7hsGxo-ojhoaU-j5qLEG-aLTXut-5uA19k-34cCjY-8pc8kM-7G4gXo-7FZm38-b5UZzc-iGxZ9-btANff-btANgA-btANfW-btANiJ-bGvBLi-bGvBMn-4GjBmg-pnZXNk-86qzRy-dpivXp-MqVkh-pmfiaq-3kD66a-7Ksqm-nD8Xm-6ts3Dx-8R6vtv-aty166-9c4L4k-9BEYkf-2oH5pJ-7aZ8KB-6VZekT-DSA4Y-6X35wc-wJHT3-8Uj7sS-6SgMNJ-jsiTbh-hhuwR5-eertVC-4H2ULZ-dkuNY-ic5h34-7SjEki">Flickr / the foreign photographer</a></div></div></div>The pace of change and disruptive innovation happening around us is exhilarating. We are not only rethinking and reimagining how people shop, bank, dine, and travel, we have an incredible potential to address a very real societal problem: the growing number of unbanked and underbanked individuals. At last count, <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/counting-the-worlds-unbanked">McKinsey &amp; Company</a> estimated that 2.5 billion of the world's adults are currently unbanked, with just short of 2.2 billion of these in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. And in the U.S., one government study showed that 20% of US households are underbanked.Financial inclusion is about much more than just having a bank account. At its root level, it is a key element of social and economic inclusion. It is about helping people participate in today's connected economy. Reaching the unbanked and underbanked population is a win for both sides - it can provide new customers for banks, while connecting people to financial services that can help them manage their money, save and obtain access to a wider range of welfare benefits.Many large technology and banking providers are already looking at how we can address this problem, alongside governments who are introducing new policies to support this. The challenge is to create meaningful opportunities to bring banking services to underserved communities.The problem of financial inclusion is global, and it is not just a third world problem. It is true that in developing economies, only 59% of adults have a traditional bank account. In India, more than 233 million people have never been to a bank. But highly developed economies have challenges too. A World Bank study showed that 11% of adults in high-income economies do not have traditional bank accounts. And another recent study estimated that 93 million people in Western Europe are financially underserved. While solutions like online payments, mobile banking, and prepaid cards have made important strides in promoting financial inclusion, these sobering numbers make it clear that there is still a great deal of work to do.There are many ways that technology can help open the vaults of banking to the unbanked and the underbanked. Among these are:Video tellers: Imagine an ATM where you can talk live with a bank teller 24 hours a day on a video screen. This technology allows banks to bring a wide range of always-on services at a fraction of the cost of a fully-staffed branch. Banks can now operate branches in low-income and rural neighbourhoods where it wasn't economical or sustainable in the past. Furthermore, customers have much more freedom in when they bank - someone who is holding down two or three jobs can now talk to a live teller at 2 am just as easily as 2 pm. In some parts of the world, people have to walk miles to reach a bank, so imagine the possibilities that can be created by bringing services to them in an affordable way.Accessibility solutions: New technology innovations such as accessible ATMs now make it easier for people with vision and hearing impairments, and all types of disabilities, to access convenient financial services. NCR has a long history of creating accessible ATMs - something we're particularly proud of is our current work building accessibility features for ATMs that match the highly regarded accessibility features on smartphones and tablets so people with disabilities can bank at an ATM just like they bank online.The cloud for microbusinesses: Financial inclusion isn't just about individuals. It also means giving small businesses the tools they need to compete, and this is something that doesn't get enough attention. The cloud is opening new doors for SMBs, who can now take orders, manage inventory, accept payments and forecast demand on a mobile device at a price they can afford. This is a powerful competitive advantage and a great equalizer - you can have the same reach and access to big data and analytics as a small business that a billion-dollar corporation has.These kinds of innovations are already in existence, and ready to roll out. However, if countries are to better support financial inclusion through technology, there are several steps they must take. First, they must have a clear national strategy, such as the goal set by India to ensure every household in the country has a bank account by 2018. This is where the government needs to play a pivotal role in encouraging financial inclusion.Second, public-private partnerships are essential to ensure that new technologies reach underserved populations that need them. Governments and technology providers need to work together to ensure that the latest technology is embraced and capable of reaching a wider audience. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image">Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/ReutersA technician shows a cell phone to a customer in his store in Khartoum</div></div></div>Third, more support is needed to extend the rollout of fast, reliable broadband technology, as this will underpin almost all of the technologies that are essential to financial inclusion. Without it, other technology solutions will not succeed.Perhaps most importantly, countries must take an omni-channel approach to financial inclusion. While tools such as digital banking are immensely powerful, not everyone will have access to every solution, or will want digital channels. Likewise, physical channels themselves are not always the answer. To open more doors to financial inclusion, we must not get locked into existing technologies - the pace of innovation is too fast for that. Government rules must be flexible and technology-neutral to allow the best technologies that drive financial inclusion to flourish, and technology providers need to ensure they are embracing the latest technology innovations in their products to be able to reach an ever-larger banking population.The NCR Corporation is an American computer hardware, software and electronics company that makes self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check processing systems, barcode scanners, and business consumables. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sugar-effects-human-body-explained-2016-12">Here's what happens to your body when you stop eating sugar</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5oMGljMzE6lf0JBPB-pyxq10IYKalQNS" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Here's how technology can open the doors to financial inclusion

<ul><li>A report by <keyword id="4053635" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Transunion-Cibil">TransUnion CIBIL</keyword> found that out of 220 million people in India that are eligible for loans, only 72 million have active bank accounts. </li><li>This is a significant opportunity for banks to expand their retail lending.</li></ul>India has been lauded for its progress on <keyword id="107911" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Financial-inclusion">financial inclusion</keyword> in recent years. The <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/">World Bank</a> found that India’s flagship government schemes such as the Jan Dhan Yojana, under which nearly <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/deposits-in-jan-dhan-accounts-cross-rs-80000-crore/articleshow/63865987.cms">315 million</a> accounts have been opened, increased formal financial coverage from 53% of the population in 2014 to 80% in 2017. Even CRISIL, a homegrown analytics firm, said that India’s overall score on its <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/EYDsPA60qlvujdln9SJcdN/India-is-doing-well-on-financial-inclusion.html">district-wise financial inclusion index</a> has increased as a result of government efforts. However, the surge in account openings is not translating into <keyword id="6354680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="credit">credit</keyword> penetration. A report by TransUnion CIBIL, a credit information agency, highlights that a lot more work needs to be done in expanding access to formal credit. The report found that out of 220 million people in India that are eligible for a loan -- based on the fact that they are between the age of 20 and 69 and earn at least ₹250,000 a year -- only 72 million, or 33%, had an active account at a bank or lending institution. A market opportunity Rather than bemoaning the lack of access to formal credit as a problem, however, TransUnion CIBIL says this represents a significant opportunity for banks to tap into. Following the massive pileup in non-performing loans, banks are becoming wary of lending to companies. They have relied on retail lending, that is loans given to individuals for housing, cars or investment purposes, to drive credit growth. Last month, Standard Chartered outlined plans to increase it share of retail loans in India <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/banking/finance/banking/standard-chartered-to-grow-retail-lending/articleshow/63891090.cms">to 40%</a> from the current 29%. This untapped market is expected to sustain a rise in credit growth for the next five years. And the population of credit-worthy borrowers is only set to grow bigger as incomes rise and young Indians come of age, reaching 295 million in another five years. The expansion in access to credit can be facilitated through the uptake of online banking, which will require credit cards, and peer-to-peer lending through smartphones. What the government needs to do Account openings aren’t the sole determinant of financial inclusion. Financial literacy programmes are vital in enabling account holders to make proper use of their banking facilities and overcome their resistance to using phones for banking purposes. The government also needs to encourage the establishment of credit bureaus to underwrite individual loans - something that can be achieved by the continued linking of bank transaction information with Aadhar details. Additionally, it is precisely because of lack of access to formal credit that India’s household debt, as a proportion of GDP, is still very low compared to countries like China and the US. According to a <a href="http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2018/05/14/Global-Debt-Database-Methodology-and-Sources-45838">working paper by the IMF</a>, India’s household debt is a little less than 10% of the GDP compared to 150% in the US and 44% in China. As banks expand access to credit, the government will have to keep a watch on this statistic.

Just 33% of the Indians that are eligible for a loan have access to a bank account

<ul><li>Around 88% of <keyword id="450369" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="rural-households">rural households</keyword> in India are estimated to have a savings account at an accredited financial institution, according to a report by <keyword id="6360385" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="nabard">NABARD</keyword>. </li><li>40,327 households in 29 states participated in the All-India Rural <keyword id="107911" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Financial-inclusion">Financial Inclusion</keyword> Survey for 2016-17. </li><li>The survey found that farming households in rural areas earn about ₹107,172 on an annual basis, which is around 23% more than non-farming rural households. </li></ul>It looks like savings culture has penetrated rural India. Around 88% of rural households in India are estimated to have a savings account at an accredited financial institution, according to a <a href="https://www.nabard.org/auth/writereaddata/tender/1608180417NABARD-Repo-16_Web_P.pdf">report</a> by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural <keyword id="6355210" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="development">Development</keyword> (NABARD), a development bank that is a key facilitator of the government’s financial inclusion agenda. The average annual savings for a rural household was found to be ₹17,488. Around 40,327 households in 29 states participated in the All-India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey for 2016-17, the results of which indicated that agriculture was still a viable livelihood in rural India. The survey found that farming households in rural areas earn about ₹107,172 on an annual basis, which is around 23% more than non-farming rural households. Nearly half of all rural households were found to be engaged in agricultural activities of some kind, contradicting the popular belief that almost all rural households are engaged in some form of agriculture or the other. The report also mapped the financial practices of rural families. A little over 47% of rural households reported the incidence of outstanding debt. Despite the higher earning capacity, agricultural households were found to be more indebted than non-agricultural ones. The average level of debt for a rural household was found to be ₹91,407, with the amount rising to ₹104,602 for farming families. Only a quarter were found to be covered under some form of insurance or pension scheme. Additionally, 33% of households reported having more than one savings account, while 26% had savings accounts operated by female family members. There was also a breakdown by each state. Punjab, Haryana and Kerala were found to have the wealthiest rural households, earning an average monthly income of ₹23,133, ₹18,496 and ₹16,927, respectively. The states of Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh reported the lowest average monthly incomes for rural farmers.

Nearly 90% of rural homes in India have savings accounts in banks: Report

Nalin Bansal, Chief Relationship Management at the National <keyword id="20242630" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="payments" source="keywords">Payments</keyword> Corporation of India (<keyword id="19998946" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NPCI" source="keywords">NPCI</keyword>), speaking at the Global Fintech Festival 2024 on Wednesday, emphasized that only 25 per cent of payment users are <keyword id="19900675" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="women" source="keywords">women</keyword>, with even lower penetration in semi-urban and rural areas. "While we've achieved significant scale in <keyword id="20377974" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-inclusion" source="keywords">financial inclusion</keyword>, penetration remains a challenge, with only 25% of payment users being women, and even fewer in semi-urban and rural areas. Many women's mobile numbers are not linked to their bank accounts, hindering their participation," Bansal said. He added, "Yet, data shows women are 50% less prone to fraud and are highly loyal and engaged users. As an ecosystem, we must prioritize personalized, assisted services and continuous engagement across all channels. UPI123 has made strides, especially for initiatives like Ujjwala, and prepaid instruments hold promise as a 'secret purse' for women. Building trust is crucial, and it is our collective responsibility to foster it." Women are more likely to adopt <keyword id="20853683" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="digital-financial-services" source="keywords">digital financial services</keyword> when introduced by local agents or <keyword id="22950816" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="community-influencers" source="keywords">community influencers</keyword>, particularly women who can help them overcome social and technological barriers. Women who make at least five <keyword id="19971375" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="transactions" source="keywords">transactions</keyword> in the first week of onboarding are twice as likely to continue using <keyword id="19900911" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="UPI" source="keywords">UPI</keyword>. This highlights the need for financial service providers to rethink in-app nudges and sales metrics to encourage consistent usage. 93 per cent of women surveyed expressed the need for ongoing support during the first three months of using digital payments, particularly for grievance redressal during failed transactions. Kalpana Ajayan, Regional Head - South Asia, Women's World Banking, said, "We recognize that digital payments can serve as a powerful tool for women, enabling them to manage their finances more effectively, access a broader range of services, and ultimately secure a better future for themselves and their families." She added, "By addressing the specific barriers that women face in adopting digital payments, we open up a new frontier for growth. This initiative is about much more than inclusion--it's about positioning women as key drivers in the digital financial ecosystem." The NPCI's UPI platform has already revolutionized India's payment landscape, with UPI transactions soaring from Rs 920 million (USD 11.08 million) in FY 2017-18 to Rs 83750 million (USD 1.01 billion) in FY 2022-23, reflecting a staggering CAGR of 147 per cent. The value of UPI transactions reached INR 80.79 trillion (USD 96,287) across approximately 55.66 billion transactions in the first four months of FY 2024-25. Of the 536 million women aged 15 years and older in India, 37 per cent report using mobile internet, making the addressable market for UPI solutions among women around 200 million strong.

Women are more likely to adopt digital financial services when introduced by local agents or women community influencers

Where will the next Uber be born? Leaders of the payment sector unanimously agree that <keyword id="107911" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Financial-inclusion">financial inclusion</keyword> will lead to the birth of the next Uber not only in the country, but in the whole world. From a cash country India is fast becoming a plastic country beating even the US. Quoting <keyword id="45830" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bill-Gates">Bill Gates</keyword>, India will become the forerunner of the financial inclusion space in the world. From <keyword id="155319" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Aadhar">Aadhar</keyword>, digital identity authentication system of India to e-sign and digital locker, India has become the most important market in the world. And, in the next few months, an Unified Payments System would be launched in the country, added Sanjay Jain, platform head at EkStep. 

	“This is the best time for payments ecosystem as India is becoming a data rich country from a data poor country,” said Abhishek Sinha, CEO of Eko Financials.
 <keyword id="198636" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vijay-Shekhar-Sharma">Vijay Shekhar Sharma</keyword>, founder of <keyword id="6357120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword> said that half of the total financial transactions done every day in the country are done via Paytm. 

	The game does not stop here. It just starts now. Virtual currency will become the name of the game. India is driving the country to a time when all payment instruments will get automatically connected to the right client for the best financial advice.
 

	Karl Mehta, Founder of EdCast, agrees that if 2.5 billion poor of the country is given financial tools in the form of digital trail instead of cash, we will take the country out of its poverty levels. Now, that’s a strong vision of the sector!
 

	And the sector believes it to be true.
 

	'Our payment options won't be dumb like the currency, but smart like the smartphone!' Vijay.
 

	So what does India have that no one else has!
 

	1. Our payment sector is already sorted into three basic layers- identity and authentication, transactions and application layer, something which does not exist even in the US.
 

	2. Strong India stack- No other country has this piece of technology.
 

	The next big question
 

	“We dematerialised stock certificates in four years, can we dematerialise cash in four years?”
 

	None can give a more fitting answer than the leader of the market himself. 
	 

	“We will skip from plastic and jump to mobile token at a rate which no one can even imagine. It will happen before even 2020 happen in the country,” said Vijay, breaking some myths.

	 
	 
	(Image credits: indiatimes)

#Startup India: Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma says half of
the total financial transactions done every day in the country are done via his
firm

<ul><li>Following the launch of the <keyword id="48812" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-Post">India Post</keyword> <keyword id="2324069" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Payments-Bank">Payments Bank</keyword> on Sep 1, the postal service plans to spin off its <keyword id="6406875" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="life-insurance">life insurance</keyword> business into a separate unit. </li><li>According to Minister of Communications, Manoj Sinha, the Indian postal service will set up an insurance company by 2020. </li><li>The Indian postal service already dabbles in insurance through the operation of the Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RLPI) schemes. </li></ul> After three years of planning, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on September 1st. The payments banking service will be run exclusively by the Indian postal service, which boasts 155,000 offices all over the country, and offer savings accounts with deposits of upto ₹100,000 along with transfers and bill payments. With the initial operation of 650 branches prior to scaling to all post offices - which will create India’s largest banking network - and the deployment of 300,000 postmen to offer doorstep service in far-flung areas, the IPPB is expected to go a long way in helping the government achieve its <keyword id="107911" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Financial-inclusion">financial inclusion</keyword> goals. In a sign of confidence, the payments bank is receiving a 80% hike in its budget to ₹14.4 billion from the government, which expects it to become profitable in two years time. But a payments bank isn’t all that the Indian postal service, which falls under the Ministry of Communications, has planned. While the IPPB has the ability to cross-sell insurance products, the India Post is said to be working on the launch of an insurance firm. According to Minister of Communications, Manoj Sinha, the Indian postal service plans to set up an insurance company as a business unit by 2020. The idea was first floated <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/postal-department-looks-to-spin-off-life-insurance-business/article24361491.ece">in July.</a> A tender for the appointment of a consultancy to facilitate the establishment of the insurer is set to go live in the coming week, Sinha added. The Indian postal service already dabbles in insurance through the operation of the Postal Life Insurance (PLI) scheme, which has been around since the late 19th century. The scheme offers life insurance services to government employees, civil servants, employees of state-owned companies and military personnel. It currently has around 4.7 million active policies. A rural complement to the scheme, Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) was launched two decades ago and has since grown to nearly 15 million policies. Sinha explained that the Indian postal service was in the throes of an important transformation, In April 2018, the postal service also decentralised its parcels and logistic services business for the purpose of efficiency and the uptake of e-commerce.

After a payments bank, the Indian postal service now plans to launch an insurance firm

Indian fintech market has received $29 billion in funding across 2,084 deals to date (January 2017-July 2022), gaining 14 per cent share of the global funding and No 2 spot on the deal volume, a new report has said. <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s <keyword id="107168" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CAGR" source="Orion">CAGR</keyword> in the fintech sector grew by 20 per cent, which was higher than that of the US, the UK, and China which witnessed a growth of 16 per cent, 15 per cent, and 10 per cent, respectively, according to 'State of the <keyword id="14784626" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="fintech-union" source="Orion">Fintech Union</keyword> 2022' report by the <keyword id="136162" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="boston-consulting-group" source="Orion">Boston Consulting Group</keyword> (BCG) and Matrix Partners India. With 7,460 fintech companies, India is now third behind the US (22,290 fintech companies) and China (8,870). The India fintech ecosystem has 23 unicorns (out of 106 in total) and has reached a scale to establish a strong position in the global financial services market and be benchmarked for its speed of innovation, customer inclusion, and growth, the report noted. "Clocking over $800 billion annual payments transaction value, <keyword id="3680498" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="fintechs" source="Orion">fintechs</keyword> have made a strong contribution to the Indian economy, and play a powerful role in the provision of full-fledged financial services to all Indians. We see this collective segment to be mission critical for the $5 trillion Indian economy," it mentioned. Many large fintechs had started operations from 2008, with Neobanks being the recent entrants. While the number of fintechs scaled up between 2014 and 2021, funding was low till 2015 after which the sector received a rapid funding boost. Covid further boosted payments space, leading to a 210 per cent spike in funding between CY 2020 and 2021. "With rising funding and valuations, we have seen an acceleration in the rate at which Fintechs have become unicorns vs the past," the report said. The report said that "we have a game changing 5 years ahead of us as the financial services landscape is expected to have many strong actors on the stage, like large Incumbents, niche as well as diversified non-banks, new-age and mature fintechs, aggregators and Financial Service Providers". It, however, mentioned that "more than 70 per cent of respondents believe most Fintechs may not be profitable in the next 2-3 years. While scale is an important driver of profitability, early stage focus on 'unit economics' is a critical orientation needed". The volume of digital investment in the country grew from 4.5 million in 2021 to 9 million in 2022, reporting a growth of 100 per cent. The neo banking volume, at the same time, went up from 2.5 million to 4 million, reporting a 60 per cent growth in just one year, the report noted. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/rbi-financial-inclusion-index-heres-what-it-means-and-why-it-is-important/articleshow/93606694.cms">RBI Financial Inclusion Index – here’s what it means and why it is important</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/big-actors-take-a-major-chunk-of-bollywood-profits-but-will-recent-flops-prompt-content-and-revenue-correction/articleshow/93712066.cms">Big actors take a major chunk of Bollywood profits, but will recent flops prompt content and revenue correction?</a>

Indian fintechs raised $29 bn this year, that's 14% of the total global funding share: report

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"><html><body><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ajay-Remarks1.pdf" target="_blank"></a>MasterCardMasterCard CEO Ajay Banga discussed financial inclusion at Mobile World Congress.</div></div></div>More than 2.5 billion people in the world don't have a bank account, meaning they lack access to loans, insurance, and emergency funds.Ajay Banga, MasterCard's president and CEO, thinks this is a huge injustice. In his eyes, the responsibility of financial inclusion - that is, the task of creating a truly global economy - rests on our generation's shoulders and requires collaboration across countries, sectors, and industries."Other generations have eradicated disease, invented radio and television and the telephone," Banga said at the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mobile-world-congress-2015" target="_blank">Mobile World Congress</a> conference in Barcelona on Tuesday, March 3. "The opportunity to drive financial inclusion is unique to us and our time."But what exactly is financial inclusion, and why does it matter? How has MasterCard helped achieve it, and what has the company learned in the process?Banga addressed these questions during an "Innovating for Inclusion" keynote, in which he expanded on why financial inclusion is so crucial, what MasterCard is doing to make it a reality, and why partnerships are key.Financial inclusion means offering low-income developing countries a full range of financial services - savings, payment and transfer services, credit, and insurance - at an affordable, competitive cost. This is a huge undertaking when only 24% of adults in places like Sub-Saharan Africa have a bank account. And it's not just an issue for developing countries: Nearly 70 million Americans and 100 million Western Europeans are also unbanked or underbanked.The key to achieving it, according to Banga, lies in digital payment programs - but only if there's support from the government. Many programs have failed because they tried to do too much on their own. Local governments must help by creating regulations and citizen identification systems to facilitate financial inclusion more easily and securely.Banga also described MasterCard's global projects that support the effort of broadening financial services to developing countries. They include the following:<ul><li>MasterCard launched <a href="http://homesend.com/" target="_blank">HomeSend</a>, a joint venture with eServGlobal and BICS. HomeSend enables consumers to transfer money between mobile money accounts, payments cards, bank accounts, and cash outlets regardless of location or carrier. The company has announced two new programs in <a href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/mastercard-and-etranzact-make-it-easier-for-millions-of-nigerians-to-receive-remittances/" target="_blank">Nigeria</a> and <a href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/mastercard-launches-cross-boarder-remittance-service-in-zimbabwe/" target="_blank">Zimbabwe</a>.</li><li>The company has partnered with mobile network operators in Brazil and CAIXA, the second largest public bank, to enable Brazilians to receive their government benefits directly through their mobile phones.</li><li>With a grant from the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation, <a href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/news-briefs/mastercard-labs-financial-inclusion-launches-nairobi/" target="_blank">MasterCard Labs for Financial Inclusion</a> recently launched in Kenya. The program aims to extend financial services for at least 100 million people across East Africa.</li><li>MasterCard and the Egyptian government are working together to roll out <a href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/press-releases/egyptian-government-and-mastercard-collaborate-to-extend-financial-inclusion-to-54-million-citizens-through-digital-national-id-program-2/" target="_blank">a new digital ID program</a> that will enable 54 million Egyptians to link their national ID to the existing national mobile money platform. (100% of Egyptians have some sort of mobile coverage.)</li></ul>Reaching full financial inclusion isn't going to be easy. But as Banga noted towards the end of his remarks, "We can bend the arc of history towards financial inclusion and a world where more people have the opportunity to enjoy what we take for granted, but it takes all of us working together."<a href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Ajay-Remarks1.pdf" target="_blank">Read Banga's full speech on financial inclusion.</a>Watch the video below to learn more about financial inclusion.This post is sponsored by <a href="http://www.mastercard.us/" target="_blank">MasterCard</a>.Find out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sponsor-posts">more about Sponsored Content</a>.</body></html>

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