RBI’s Financial Inclusion Index (RBI-FI Index)

The Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Inclusion Index (RBI-FI Index), launched in 2021, continues to track India’s progress in expanding access to formal financial services across the country. The index captures financial inclusion across multiple sectors, including banking, investment, insurance, postal and pension services.

About the RBI-FI Index

The FI Index is based on 97 indicators and measures financial inclusion across three key dimensions:

• Access – availability of financial services
• Usage – extent and regularity of use of financial products
• Quality – consumer protection, service delivery and sustainability

These dimensions are reflected through three sub-indices: FI-Access, FI-Usage and FI-Quality.

Latest Performance

• India’s Financial Inclusion Index increased from 64.2 in March 2024 to 67.0 in March 2025, indicating steady improvement in access to and usage of formal financial services.

Policy Framework

India’s efforts are guided by:

• National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) 2019–2024, and
• National Strategy for Financial Education (NSFE) 2020–2025,
  which together provide a coordinated roadmap for financial inclusion, financial literacy and consumer protection.

Global Context

The World Bank recognises financial inclusion as a key driver of development and publishes the Global Findex Database to track financial service usage worldwide. According to the Global Findex 2025, account ownership in India has risen to 89% since 2011, with significant progress in increasing the share of adults holding active accounts.

Schemes Driving the Momentum

Several targeted initiatives have contributed to the rising index:

• Kisan Credit Card (KCC): Credit to farmers has more than doubled, reaching ₹10.05 lakh crore as of December 2024, benefiting over 7.72 crore farmers.
• Mahila Samriddhi Yojana (MSY): Aimed at socially and economically weak women, the scheme has disbursed ₹72,859 lakhs to Self Help Groups (SHGs) across the country.
• Saturation Campaign: A nationwide three-month campaign launched in July 2025 has already seen the opening of 6.65 lakh new accounts in its first month alone.