“If…If…Incomplete”: Governor RBI highlights 3 dimensions of financial inclusion
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) believes in the old motto: “If you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. That’s the message from the Governor of Central Bank Sanjay Malhotra, as he emphasizes the financial inclusion of complete economic development. The head of the Reserve Bank of India addressed at the annual FIBAC meeting in Mumbai on Monday: “We need to bring everyone together, especially those at the bottom of the pyramid.” ”
The RBI Governor acknowledged further improvements within the scope of the last mile delivery bank commodity access in rural areas of the country, remember: “Let us remember that we have a responsibility to all people in our country.”
He said nearly two-thirds of the country’s population is located in rural areas.
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He stressed the need to strengthen business correspondents as channels to enhance the “quality, consistency and coverage of financial services” in sparsely populated areas.
RBI governor praises commercial banks for their financial inclusion drive
Urges commercial lenders to strengthen their efforts through financially inclusive camps, and he calls for increased coverage of rebusiness (know your customers) and social security programs.
“To gain financial inclusion and ensure uninterrupted access to financial services, the bank launched a nationwide campaign at the Gram Panchayat level from July 1, 2025 to September 30, 2025,” he said.
Focus on small businesses
Malhotra also said there was a “significant credit gap” between micro and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Malhotra describes MSME as a key area of focus, and the industry “contributes a lot to employment, exports and outputs.”
He hopes that banks and NBFC will make special efforts to improve formal credit to MSMES.
“They should leverage public digital infrastructure (such as the Unified Lending Interface (ULI)) in this work,” he said.
Three key dimensions of financial inclusion: access, usage, quality
The RBI governor also demonstrated the country’s “conspicuous progress” in Finney’s inclusion over the years, citing data captured by the Financial Inclusion Index, which is based on three dimensions: access, usage and quality.
The RBI’s FI index was launched in August 2021 to capture and monitor the level of financial inclusion across the country by recording personal and household data in key segments such as banking, investment, insurance, pensions and postal services.
“Usage” has the largest weight in the index at 45%, followed by access (35%) and mass (20%).
The barometer captures data points such as banks, ATMs and payment platforms (access), use of these financial services (use), and financial literacy, consumer protection and grievance remediation mechanisms (quality).
He also said the index points to “further enhancement of the scope of use and quality while also addressing access gaps.”
