subject: Mobile Banking: A Well Suited Channel For Financial Inclusion [print this page] India Has benefited a lot from the Economic boom it has seen over the last few years.
Mobile Telephony in India is a Huge market
The wireless market in India has been growing at brake neck speed on year to year basis over the last few years.
As on August 31, 20009 India had a staggering 546.74 million wireless subscribers. Not only this, the total subscriber base is expected to touch 500 million soon with a growth rate of approx 15 million per month. The Indian mobile market has continued to witness rapid increase in its subscriber base largely due to
Declining mobile tariffs (Those pay per second plans with unlimited publicity done for them leave no stone unturned in enticing the end users)
Availability of low cost handsets in the country. Mobile handsets costs begin at Rs 700( Around $ 16)
Urban Rural Divide
70% of the wireless connections are in the urban market and 30% in the rural market. This means that there is still a lot of scope for further expansion in the rural markets.
India Access to banking & financial services for the financially excluded
The cost of banking intermediation in India is higher and bank penetration is far lower than in other markets.
Indias banking industry must strengthen itself significantly if it has to support the modern and vibrant economy which India aspires to be.
According to researches carried out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) some time back, on an all India basis, in rural areas, the coverage of banks is 39 per cent, against 60 per cent in urban areas.
FINO is committed for bridging the gap by integrating mobile phone services with banking facilities
Given the penetration rate and growth rate of mobile telephony in rural areas, mobile banking is the well suited channel for Financial Inclusion.
