As a result of digital payment options and uptake, India has taken just six years to reach its financial inclusion target of 80% - 41 years earlier than originally anticipated.
The findings were announced in a report by the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) published ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend.
The report, ‘G20 Policy Recommendations for Advancing Financial Inclusion and Productivity Gains through Digital Public Infrastructure’, was prepared by the World Bank with the guidance of and inputs from the G20 India Presidency represented by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) of the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
According to the G20, India’s timeline was accelerated by digital payment options such as Jan Dhan Bank accounts, Aadhaar, and mobile phones (the JAM trinity).
The report also praises the advancements made through Brazil’s Pix payments. It found that50 million individuals made transfers through Pix when they had not made any account-to-account transfers in the 12 months prior to its launch.
The report details other advancements through digital payments, digital IDs, and data exchange infrastructure in a number of countries with lower financial inclusion levels, such as Argentina, Bangladesh, and Colombia.
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA) and Honorary Patron of the G20 GPFI, said in her foreword to the report: “Uniting the public and private sectors through truly inclusive DPI can drive progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals and bolster resilience for people and businesses. I anticipate the GPFI’s ongoing dedication to this topic and look forward to celebrating our achievements in the coming years.”