19% of India’s population still unbanked: Assocham-EY report

New Delhi: India’s financial services ecosystem lags in terms of physical infrastructure and has failed to reach the poor people, with more than 19% of the population unbanked or financially excluded, says a report.

The Assocham-EY joint study said, however, the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) have made several concentrated efforts to promote financial inclusion.

These efforts include launch of cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs), introduction of mandated priority sector lending (PSL) targets, formation of self-help groups, appointment of business correspondents by banks to provide door-step delivery of banking services, Assocham said.

“These initiatives helped to bring in a large section of the unbanked population under the formal financial credit system. However, a significant portion of India’s population still remains devoid of access to basic formal credit facilities mainly due to lack of last mile connectivity,” the chamber said.