Financial Inclusion and Fintech Research in India

Abstract

This chapter presents a concise review of the existing financial inclusion research in India. The authors use a thematic literature review methodology. They show that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been at the forefront of financial inclusion in India and has used collaborative efforts to deepen financial inclusion in India. The review of existing literature shows that the major determinants of financial inclusion in India are income, age, gender, education, employment, ICT, bank branch network, and nearness to a bank. The common theories used to analyse financial inclusion in India are the finance-growth theory, the diffusion of innovations theory, development economics and modernization theory, the vulnerable group theory of financial inclusion, and the dissatisfaction theory of financial inclusion. The common methodologies used in the literature are surveys, questionnaires, financial inclusion index, regression estimations, and causality tests.