Hiccups over the last mile: Biz correspondent model may need overhauling

The BC model is essentially a regulator-led effort that not only aims to make financial services accessible through a branchless banking facility, but also supports the national agenda of job creation

Tucked away in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Annual Report for 2021-22 is this nugget: the total number of outlets serviced by business correspondents (BCs) in the country shot up to 3,257,251 in December 2021, from just 519,147 a year before — an increase of 527 per cent! And there’s only a footnote by way of explanation for the uptick in BCs: “There is a significant increase in data reported by a few private banks.”

Incredible as these numbers are, they should be seen in the context of the churn underway in the BC world.

Launched in 2006, the