Further, given the extent of financial exclusion that prevails in India where out of the 6,00,000 habitations in the country, less than 30,000 have a commercial bank branch, only 55% of the population have deposit accounts, and the proportion of people having any kind of life insurance is as low as 10 per cent, the RBI and the Government of India are in recent times aggressively focussing on financial inclusion as one of the most important drivers of inclusive growth.
2. In a technology driven financial sector scenario, although intermediation is probably more tiered, it should eventually result in lower costs, greater financial inclusion and customer protection. Customer protection becomes more important and perhaps more difficult due to such an intermediation.