Читать книгу The Political Economy of the BRICS Countries - Группа авторов - Страница 107

In addition to products, processes, and logistics, a key development has been the licensing of new institutions in the private sector. This further opens up the space for financial inclusion and, in effect, raises the overall level of competition in the banking sector. Three sets of institutions have been permitted. Establishing new institutions, however, is not unique to India, but has been practiced in other countries as well (Box 3).

The first is the license given to two new banks in the private sector. Accordingly, two new banks — IDFC bank and Bandhan Bank — started operations from 2015.

Table 10:Financial inclusion and mobile telephony.

Note: Standard errors (clustered by state and year) in brackets. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

Second, the Reserve Bank permitted Small Finance Banks (SFBs) to operate in the banking space. As compared to the microfinance institutions which also typically operate within small jurisdictions, these banks are differentiated in terms of three factors: (a) a lower start-up equity as compared to comparable newly established private banks, (b) a much higher proportion of priority sector lending requirements, and (c) restricting a minimum proportion of loans as not to exceed a threshold level. Ten such SFBs have been granted ‘in principle’ approval.

Third is the permission given to Payments Bank (PBs) to also operate in the financial space. The idea of a PB was that they would accept small savings, particularly of low-income households, manage remittances which would be of particular use to migrant workers, and distribute third-party products. These banks are expected to operate with cutting-edge technologies so as to leapfrog the technological content of banking operations. After scrutinizing the applicant list, ‘in-principle’ licenses were awarded to three distinct types of players: telecom players with a strong distribution network, technology players, and traditional finance companies with a strong retail presence Since it is envisaged that the maximum balance in any account will never exceed INR 100,000 at any point in time, this initiative is expected to reach the smaller segment of the customers. Moreover, the guidelines also specify that these banks are not expected to adhere to the quota of 25% branches in villages with less than 9,999 inhabitants but instead, at least a quarter of its access points should be in such locations, thereby placing a greater emphasis on vertical specialization and technology.