India

In August 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the “Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana” (Prime Minister’s People’s Wealth Scheme, or PMJDY) to provide 75 million unbanked Indians with zero-balance bank accounts—delivering access to a full range of financial services, including pension, credit and insurance. The actual accounts numbers have exceedingly surpassed these estimates.

The initiative’s results are clear: Many more Indians now have bank accounts. Financial Inclusion Insights show that two-thirds of adults (65%) are financially included, with over six in ten (63%) having bank accounts. The country remains one of the largest and poorest in the world, ranking 160th in per-capita GDP, with nearly four in five citizens (78%) living below the $2.50/day poverty line. Now, however, consumers have access to insurance and can receive government benefits delivered to a debit card rather than less-secure means. Growing financial inclusion will open up services to poor, rural and other disadvantaged groups, population segments that have not always had easy access to financial services in the past.

Financial Inclusion

Total Financially Included
Financial Inclusion Breakdown By Accounts
Account Ownership By Year
49% of Indian adults are digitally included (have digital access to a financial account).

Poverty

Financial Inclusion By Poverty
Adults Who Have a Financial Plan for Unexpected Events
Adults Who Have Borrowed Money In The Last Year
42% of Indian adults are active bank account users.

Banks

Bank Account Holders
By Poverty Level
By Literacy
Indian bank account holders are primarily located in rural areas, literate, and living on less than $2.50 a day.

True or false

A majority of poor Indians receive G2P payments through banks

True

True or false

The main reason Indians do not save at a bank is that they do not think they have enough money to save

True

What percentage of financially included women have PMJDY bank accounts?

A. 53%
B. 12%
C. 19%
D. 42%
19%

What percent of Indians currently have some form of savings?

A. 52%
B. 70%
C. 26%
D. 87%
87%

What percent of the Indian population is numerate?

A. 68%
B. 45%
C. 72%
D. 95%
95%

True or false

More than 60% of all bank account owners are active users (i.e., have used their account at least once in the past 90 days)

True