Publication: LiveMint

Individuals and households need access to reliable financial services like a safe and accessible place to save and affordable credit.

NBFCs are particularly vulnerable to wholesale funding constraints in the form of high and volatile borrowing costs

The troubles of the banking sector, and public sector banks (PSBs) in particular, are well known.

The troubles of the banking sector, and public sector banks (PSBs) in particular, are well known. Reform proposals have focused largely on ownership and have issued strident calls for privatization. Even if there was political support for this idea, there are a few important challenges.

The collection and use of personal data in order to deliver public and commercial services is now routine in India. For a country with large digital ambitions, one of the key questions will be: How should we think about regulating the use of Indians’ personal data?

We are within striking distance of every Indian having access to a bank account and being able to easily send and receive payments. We should care deeply that millions of Indians are still turning to expensive informal financial services in the face of seasonal and volatile incomes, despite years of trying to improve access to basic financial services.

Imagine you are a labourer in a village in Odisha and have painstakingly completed your Aadhaar formalities (for which you gave a proof of permanent address and your fingerprints).

In India, however, it has been applied to the sale of derivatives by banks to corporate customers.

The recent controversy surrounding the microfinance sector has entirely eclipsed the fact that it is the first effort in India to have delivered financial services to remote corners of the country in a self-sustaining manner.

India has a concentrated banking system, which means that if five individuals decide that this needs to be done, it will be done.