DIGITAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION: POLICIES AND BUSINESS MODELS

Paper Number :WP/01/2021
Publication Date :Nov. 1, 2021

Improved access to formal financial services boosts economic development, decreases inequality, and benefits people at the bottom of the pyramid, more specifically small and marginal farmers, micro and small enterprises, women, and other excluded segments of the population. The digital disruptions and emergence of innovative business models in the banking and financial sector are enabling factors for deepening of digital financial inclusion (DFI). The governments, central banks, commercial banks, fintech companies, and other private and public enterprises are contributing to the digital financial services (DFS) ecosystem through innovative payment infrastructure, low-cost digital products and services, unique delivery models, regulation, and so on. The paper analyses global policy on DFI, innovative business models, progress and achievement of DFI across BRICS countries, and innovative DFI models in India. The paper concludes with DFI lessons to India from global/BRICS countries and the way forward for DFI.