Finmin backs more women as banking correspondents

 

DFS, through the Indian Banks Association, has already asked public sector banks to focus on increasing women BCs and prepare a roadmap at the individual level.

• Government wants to increase the proportion of women banking correspondents from 10% to 30%

New Delhi :

The government plans to increase the number of female business correspondents (BCs) to a third of the total by 2027 so that more women can participate in the country's financial system.

Women are considered to be better managers of household finances, and an increase in the number of female BCs is expected to enhance this skill with better financial planning, participation in savings instruments and other financial products and help them become financially independent, two people Private to discuss this. The thing said.

He said the Department of Financial Services is working on a plan to increase the number of BCs from less than 10% to 30% in the next three years, and a roadmap on this will be part of an action plan for public sector banks. Upcoming Union Budget.

A BC Bank branch has an extended branch, which provides door-to-door banking and financial services to customers in remote areas. As of FY22, there were 1.32 million BCs, as against 1.13 million in FY21 and 730,000 in FY20. But less than 10% of these are women. The gender gap is even bigger for BCs assigned to service Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts.

“Women are critical to deepening financial inclusion goals, in addition to providing financial services providers with additional revenue potential of $700 billion globally. The program to increase the number of BCs is designed to bridge this gap and bring more women into the country's financial system," said a government official responsible for the development.

The Ministry of Finance and the Department of Financial Services (DFS) did not respond to queries on increasing the number of female BCs till the time of going to the press.

Those cited above said that the DFS set up a committee late last year, which has accepted a recommendation to increase the number of female BCs to more than 30% by 2027. The country's largest lender State Bank of India has also given its approval. The exercise that will largely go into deploying women BCs at the service of women Jan Dhan account holders.



According to government estimates, as on August 10, there were 463 million PMJDY account holders, of whom 55.6% (257 million) are women, and 66.8% (309 million) in rural and semi-urban areas would need to be served by BCs.

“Even though 56% of bank account holders are women, only 8-10% of female BCs are serving these women customers. There is an urgent need for more women agents as only these can help bring this vital segment into the financial system quickly. Our surveys indicate that the need for financial resources for the family is higher among women. Therefore, increasing the BC number to 30% should be a starting point," said Kalpana Ajayan, regional head of South Asia, Women's World Banking (WWB), an international non-profit organisation, who was part of the DFS committee on BC.

Officials aware of the developments said that the DFS, through the Indian Banks' Association, has already asked public sector banks to focus on increasing women BCs and prepare a roadmap at the individual level. A formal timeline will be set in the budget.

According to industry studies, banking agents are the building blocks of the financial ecosystem, and women BCs are an important element of this as they bring with them the transparency, patience required to provide clients with understanding a financial product, and develop better understanding and synergy. Huh. Female clients who are more willing to share family finance issues with female BCs.

At the same time, female BCs are more likely to serve disadvantaged people, especially in remote areas, encourage savings among women, and are seen as less vulnerable to misconduct.