Published Online:November 2025
Product Name:The IUP Journal of Bank Management
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJBM011125
DOI:10.71329/IUPJBM/2025.24.4.5-15
Author Name:Ashish Srivastava and Nitu Saxena
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Finance
Download Format:PDF
Pages:5-15
Financial inclusion initiatives, which traditionally begin with supply-side interventions to provide access to formal financial services for hitherto excluded segments, should gradually focus on enabling better lives and livelihoods for people, thereby achieving the goals of equity, growth, sustainable development, and wellbeing. As a policy intervention aimed at improving the wellbeing of people, financial inclusion has tremendous potential for mitigating the inequalities, vulnerabilities, and overindebtedness of households. This paper notes that by positioning individuals and households at the epicenter, financial inclusion policies increasingly need to adopt a larger agenda and nuanced vision by looking beyond the traditional trinity of access, usage, and quality towards nuanced dimensions with holistic and sustainable solutions for households for their wellbeing
Financial inclusion policies, by extending formal financial services to the hitherto excluded and underserved segments of society in an affordable, suitable, and trustworthy manner, are effective conduits for socioeconomic progress, inclusive development, social equity, and the achievement of sustainable development goals. Financial inclusion is a bedrock that enhances equity and trust in the financial system, supports economic growth and improves people’s wellbeing. Financial inclusion also enhances financial stability by expanding the financial system’s base by including individuals and households, thereby mitigating its riskiness due to a macro-diversification effect.