Jan’s Dhan Now In Safe Hands: 80 Per Cent Of Indians Part Of Formal Banking System, Figure Doubles In Six Years

According to an RBI report, the number of persons joining the formal financial system has more than doubled since 2011 and by 2017, it had reached 80 per cent of the Indian population.

This performance not only puts India on comparable footing with China but also makes the country more financially inclusive than its other BRICS peers like Russia, South Africa and Brazil.

“Within a span of four years, the total number of accounts opened under the PMJDY expanded to 328 million, with Rs.851 billion deposits as on September 28, 2018. Of these accounts, 59.1 per cent were opened at branches located in rural and semi-urban centres,” said a government release referring to Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) which aimed to increase account ownership among unbanked adults.

Under the scheme, 27.17 crore RuPay Debit cards have also been issued to account holders along with an in-built accident insurance coverage to the tune of Rs 2 lakh.

Lagging In Digital Payments

Since 2015, though digital payments have grown at a pace of 50 per cent in India, the country still lags behind many of the BRICS nations. For instance, Russia’s transactions account to 200 per adult, annually. India’s remains only at 20.