Financial inclusion programme faces a number of challenges including the kind of technology to be used and how to motivate the bank management, staff as well as the business correspondents to be appointed, for it to be viable and successful, said R Gopalan, secretary (financial services), ministry of finance.
He said a new index of financial inclusion being prepared by the ratings agency Crisil would be used to review the performance of banks implementing the programme and would also be used in the statement of intent by the government to fix the target, he said.
In Phase-I, services to be offered by banks include deposits, withdrawal and remittance. “In the next phase, we are planning to add loan products,” Gopalan told reporters here after a review of the programme in the southern states.
Financial inclusion is fair, timely and adequate access to financial services that include saving, credit, payment and remittance facilities at an affordable cost, and in a transparent manner through institutional agencies.