Microfinance And Financial Inclusion In India

This book explores the role and effect of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) with different dimensions. It is being supported with strong empirical evidence into various parameters of MFIs directed towards inclusive finance and the transformation journey of livelihoods of its beneficiaries. It also incorporates empirical evidence with the perception of both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. Starting its journey toward the path of comprehending how MFIs make their footprint among the excluded population in the selected areas, it incorporates the different outcomes of MFI lending like credit utilisation patterns, income generation, and employability. As financial stability helps to break out the vicious cycle of poverty, this book emphasises the self-dependent element for the beneficiaries and their households. It addresses the important issue of the female counterparts in society. It shows how the MFIs work actively to generate female empowerment from multiple dimensions among the selected communities. It addresses key issues to consider for inclusive policy formulation, especially for backward communities in the backward areas and gives a realistic scenario of the MFI activities, their interactions with the respondents, the various outcomes, and areas for further developments, etc. This book is beneficial for academicians, researchers, and policymakers.

Developing personal financial skills and improving financial literacy are fundamental aspects for managing money and propelling a bright financial future. Considering life events and risks that unexpectantly present themselves, especially in the light of recent global events, there is often an uncertainty associated with financial standings in unsettled times. It is important to have personal finance management to prepare for times of crisis, and personal finance is something to be thought about in everyday life. The incorporation of financial literacy for individuals is essential for a decision-making process that could affect their financial future. Having a keen understanding of beneficial and detrimental financial decisions, a plan for personal finances, and personalized goals are baselines for money management that will create stability and prosperity. In a world that is rapidly digitalized, there are new tools and technologies that have entered the sphere of finance as well that should be integrated into the conversation. The latest methods and models for improving financial literacy along with critical information on budgeting, saving, and managing spending are essential topics in today’s world. The Research Anthology on Personal Finance and Improving Financial Literacy provides readers with the latest research and developments in how to improve, understand, and utilize personal finance methodologies or services and obtain critical financial literacy. The chapters within this essential reference work will cover personal finance technologies, banking, investing, budgeting, saving, and the best practices and techniques for optimal money management. This book is ideally designed for business managers, financial consultants, entrepreneurs, auditors, economists, accountants, academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on modern advancements and recent findings in personal finance.

An increasing acknowledgement that financial services hold the key to mainstreaming the poor and disadvantaged in India makes this detailed account of financial inclusion--both as a concept and as a veritable solution to aid in the country's development--a timely resource. The book states that the primary goal of financial inclusion is to broaden the scope of activities of the formal financial system, thus allowing people of low income to gradually participate in the system and thereby freeing the poor from poverty. The authors argue that important financial services such as credit, savings, insurance, and remittances should be provided at an affordable cost to low-income citizens. Topics discussed in the book include current financial exclusion; the roles of microfinance, banks, and nongovernmental organizations in financial inclusion; the Indian financial system; the credit needs of weaker sections of society in India; and Scheduled Castes development corporations.

This book brings together empirical evidences and theoretical perspectives to provide a comprehensive overview of the microfinance sector in India. The essays in the volume: focus on the application of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions in microfinance institutions to strengthen the savings movement and widen credit access to the poor and marginalized sections of society; present case studies on self-help group (SHG) movements, federations and SHG-Bank Linkage programmes; propose measures for strengthening regulatory and governance structures of the microfinance sector; and identify linkages between overall financial inclusion and the contribution of microfinance institutions (MFIs). The volume will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of microeconomics, South Asian economics and development economics as well as professionals and aspirants in the microfinance, rural banking and financial inclusion sectors.

This book addresses the gaps in the present institutional structure of inclusive finance framework in India. It provides a comprehensive review of the role of banks in financial inclusion policy and micro-finance landscape in India at present. It identifies the key issues within the banking system which prove to be obstacles in the way of achieving financial inclusion and sustainable growth. The book conceptualizes inclusive banking, delves into the theoretical foundations thereof and suggests an institutional framework to avoid overlapping of their functions in order to ensure profitability. It reviews the existing market structure and competition in the inclusive finance arena while considering the role of banks, micro-finance institutions and SHGs in financing the poor. The book proposes a distinct change to the existing business model, examines the bank business model for inclusion and how the banks can and should treat the micro lending clientele as their core client base to counter the issues of profitability and competition in today’s banking sector. It also discusses some of the latest initiatives in inclusive finance and the importance of entrepreneurship development experiments in India and their efficacy in comparison with the micro-lending model.

This book presents a set of conversations with five former Governors of Reserve Bank of India (from 1992 onwards) on the topic of financial inclusion. Two key aspects are introduced in the conversations with each Governor: the initiatives that were undertaken during their tenure and their responses to some of the current issues. Further, they examine the reasons and justifications for significant decisions and measures that were undertaken or withheld. The discussion captures the evolution and approach of the central bank in addressing a variety of questions pertaining to financial inclusion. The volume is an important contribution to the study of India’s continuous but not entirely successful efforts in increasing the reach of its formal financial sector. It reconstructs how the policy approach to inclusive banking has progressed and resisted commercial and market imperatives to safeguard the deprived and dispossessed sections of society. With its wide-ranging blend of conversations, documentation, research and commentary coupled with its engaging style, the book will interest students and researchers in the areas of development, banking, macroeconomics, public administration and governance, as well as academics, analysts, policymakers, think tanks, journalists, media and those concerned with the Indian economic policy.

In recent years, microfinance in India has emerged as the most suitable and practical alternative to conventional banking in reaching the poor population. Microfinance enables poor people to be thrifty and helps them in availing themselves of the credit and other financial services for improving their income and living standards. The Self-help Group (SHG) Bank Linkage Program was formally launched in 1992 as a flagship program that envisages the organization of the rural poor into SHGs for building their capacities to manage their own finances and then negotiate bank credit on commercial terms. The poor are encouraged to voluntarily come together to save small amounts regularly and extend micro loans among themselves. Once the group attains required maturity in handling larger resources, the bank credit follows. This book explains the concepts associated with microfinance, traces its progress and performance, and examines the role of India's government agencies in its promotion. It also highlights the role of microfinance in the economic empowerment of women and as a tool of financial inclusion.

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.