The Financial Inclusion Insights program, operated by global strategic research consultancy, InterMedia, and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, shows that India has the highest account dormancy rate of the seven countries assessed in its 2014 cross country survey on financial behaviour.

While 48% of Indian adults have access to a bank account, the highest rate of the seven countries, 47% of Indian accounts lie dormant. The survey findings  also highlight that fewer than a quarter of Indian bank account users use advanced bank services, while only 0.3% of Indian adults use mobile money services - the lowest among the seven countries surveyed.

InterMedia's report on the survey, Financial Services and Digital Pathways: A comparison of the nationally representative FII surveys conducted in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh includes analysis of financial behavior by gender, geographic location, urban/rural location, and other key socioeconomic factors.

Gayatri Murthy, InterMedia's Research Manager for India said, ''We hope that the information contained in this study will enable policy makers, regulators, and bankers to identify priorities to improve financial inclusion, design focused initiatives to push the inclusion agenda, and most importantly, measure the progress made.''
 
Girindre Beeharry, director, India Country Office, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said, ''This study challenges the notion that financial inclusion is merely a matter of opening bank accounts. Hopefully its findings will mobilise further innovation in the sector, and further promote the potential of digital technology in ensuring that all Indians - wherever they may live - can access the financial services they need.''

This unique survey, to be repeated annually, is based on interviews with 45,024 Indians aged 15 years and above. The survey evaluates access and  use of formal financial services, mobile devices, mobile money services, as well as barriers and potential for future use.