RBI asks banks to open resource centres for financial inclusion

Central bank pushes banks to provide basic banking services in villages.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has urged commercial banks to open financial inclusion resource centres throughout the country. These would work as a store-house of all relevant information pertaining to financial inclusion.

“Though RBI is doing its bit by opening financial inclusion resource centres, it’s not enough. So, commercial banks should also open such centres as this is a good development and commercial proposition,” RBI Governor D Subbarao said on the sidelines of the launch of a financial inclusion resource centre here on Monday.

The central bank, which has opened such centres in Pune and Chandigarh, was planning to open two more, one each in Kolkata and Mumbai, he added.

RBI is pushing banks to provide basic banking services in villages with a population of 2,000 and above by 2012 and those with a population of less than 2,000 over the next three to five years.

“Both banks and state governments are majority stake-holders in the financial inclusion process. While this will ensure better governance in states due to better transparency, banks will get low-cost deposits to protect themselves from asset-liability mismatches,” he said.

He, however, added the financial inclusion process was slow in many regions and should be expedited.

Earlier, banks had submitted their financial inclusion plans to the regulator, according to which around 200,000 business correspondents and customer service points would start work over next two-and-a-half years. Also, 4,000 branches in unbanked villages and 100 million no-frills accounts would be opened. Recently, RBI made a policy change by allowing for-profit organisations to act as business correspondents to speed up financial inclusion.

“Commercial banks should see financial inclusion as an opportunity rather than an obligation,” Subbarao said. He said technology should be used to meet financial inclusion targets.