Challenges Faced by Banks for Financial Inclusion: Growth and Viability in the Indian Context

Abstract

The banking system in India significantly differs from that of other Asian nations due to unique geographic, social, and economic spread. In India, financially excluded sections largely comprise of marginal farmers, slum dwellers, migrants, women, self-employed, and senior citizens. There have been many formidable challenges in financial inclusion for bridging the gap between the demand and supply side. The chapter deliberates the challenges faced by banks for financial inclusion in context of infrastructure and institutional credit, risk perception, illiteracy, compliances, financial awareness, products, and services. Barriers to financial services expansion and product and service delivery in rural markets will be reviewed, and the primary focus will be on challenges with respect to marketing and delivery of financial services in rural areas. Reaching out to the excluded sections through financial literacy campaigns, and in the process marketing, the banks and their schemes would be an important step towards financial inclusion.