RBI wants low-cost banking for masses

Source :HT Correspondent, Hindustan TimesSeptember 21, 2010First Published: 01:14 IST(21/9/2010)


Banks should reduce the cost of services by becoming more efficient in order to extend services to people in un-banked areas, said Subir Gokarn, deputy governor, Reserve Bank of India at a seminar organised by Confederation of Indian Industry on opportunities and challenges for financial services inIndia and Europe.


“Banks should bring down the cost of services so that people in un-banked areas can also avail their services,” said Gokarn.


 He said financial inclusion should not be just about adding numbers but providing banking services to the masses and the Unique Identification Number (UID) project can be leveraged for taking banking services to rural and semi urban areas.


Gokarn said greater transparency and stability in the financial sector is needed to avoid any recurrence of the financial crisis.


 Gokarn said the trend of convergence in the financial sector called for a mechanism to share information between regulators.


MV Nair, chairman and managing director of Union Bank of India, pointed to the untapped potential in the Indian banking sector, as a vast section of society does not have access to financial services.