Role of Mobile Banking in Financial Inclusion
13 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2014 Last revised: 2 Dec 2014
Date Written: August 23, 2014
Abstract
There is increased emphasis on financial inclusion from the Government, regulators, banks, NGOs, and individuals. Proponents of development finance like Md. Yunus are going to the extent of making it as a fundamental right of an individual. But, there is demand as well as supply side constraints to it. A large section of the society is deprived of financial services like credit, loan, insurance, financial education, remittances, pension etc. So does it mean that the poor are not availing the financial services? The answer to it is no. They have got their own mechanism to do so, and they do it in multiple ways involving informal sources (Collins et al, 2009). Here, informal methods serve the purpose, but it is much more costly and has various ill effects. In this situation mobile banking seems to a feasible solution. It has got benefits for multiple stakeholders. At the macro level use of mobile banking will increase the flow of money, spread entrepreneurship, and increase Gross Domestic Product. At the same time there are limitations or dangers of mobile banking at macro level. It could lead to increased instances of money laundering and may be in criminal activities. Whereas, at micro level it will benefit the organization as well as consumers in terms of addressing constraints being faced by them.
The objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of mobile banking in bringing about financial inclusion in a developing country like India. Although we will emphasize its relevance in the Indian context, it should be applicable to the poor in general residing in similar conditions elsewhere. To make it happen we propose a tripartite institutional arrangement involving one of the largest network in the country i.e. India Post.
Keywords: Mobile Banking, Financial Inclusion, India
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