Only 48 percent Indian adults have access to bank account: Survey

Only 48 percent of Indian adults have access to a bank account, out of which almost half of the accounts lie dormant, a study showed here Tuesday.

The survey was conducted by the Financial Inclusion Insights programme (www.finclusion.org), operated by global strategic research consultancy, InterMedia, and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The survey shows that India has the highest account dormancy rate of the seven countries - Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - assessed in its 2014 cross country survey on financial behaviour.

"While 48 percent of Indian adults have access to a bank account, the highest rate of the seven countries, 47 percent of Indian accounts lie dormant," the survey said.

It also highlights that fewer than a quarter of Indian bank account users use advanced bank services, while only 0.3 percent of Indian adults use mobile money services - the lowest among the seven countries surveyed.

"We hope that the information contained in this study will enable policy makers, regulators, and bankers to identify priorities to improve financial inclusion, design focused initiatives to push the inclusion agenda, and most importantly, measure the progress made," said Gayatri Murthy, InterMedia's Research manager for India.

"This study challenges the notion that financial inclusion is merely a matter of opening bank accounts. Hopefully its findings will mobilise further innovation in the sector, and further promote the potential of digital technology in ensuring that all Indians - wherever they may live - can access the financial services they need," said Girindre Beeharry, director, India Country Office, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The survey is based on interviews with 45,024 Indians aged 15 years and above. The survey evaluates access and use of formal financial services, mobile devices, mobile money services, as well as barriers and potential for future use.