India has achieved a significant milestone in financial inclusion, with nearly 9 in 10 adults now owning a financial account, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 report. The country’s financial account ownership surged to 89 per cent in 2024, up from just 35 per cent in 2011, marking one of the most ambitious and rapid expansions in the world.
The report highlighted India’s progress in extending financial access through both traditional banking and mobile money services. The World Bank’s survey showed that in India, a vast majority of these accounts, or 88.7 per cent, are held with a bank or similar financial institution, and 23.1 per cent of adults reported having a mobile money account.
Account ownership up, but inactivity remains high
Despite this rise in ownership, the report stated that India has one of the highest shares of inactive accounts worldwide. The World Bank found that 14 per cent of adults or 16 per cent of account holders, did not use their accounts at all over the past year. That’s more than double the global average of 6 per cent inactive accounts and significantly skews inactivity data among low- and middle-income economies.
It said, “If India is excluded, the inactivity rate among account holders in low- and middle-income countries drops from 6 per cent to just 4 per cent.”
Digital financial services yet to gain momentum
Only 31.1 per cent of accounts in India are digitally linked which means there is a substantial untapped potential for digital financial services. Also, only 48.5 per cent of adults reported making or receiving a digital payment in the past 12 months, which is well below the average for peer economies.
Now, mobile infrastructure gaps also remain a barrier with just 66.5 per cent of adults owning a mobile phone, and only 42 per cent have smartphones. Further, digital security practices are also concerning with less than 40 per cent of mobile users using password protection.
Gender gap narrows, but financial behavior lags
According to the World Bank report, the gender gap in account ownership has nearly disappeared, with 89.2 per cent of women now owning an account. Additionally, the gender gap in active usage narrowed from 12 percentage points in 2021 to 7 points in 2024. This is attributed to digitised government payments targeted at women. The share of women receiving government-to-person (G2P) transfers digitally rose from 13 per cent in 2021 to 24 per cent in 2024.
India also shows mixed results on financial behaviour. Only 38.6 per cent of adults reported saving money in the past year, whether formally or informally, while 63.3 per cent borrowed funds during the same period. This indicates continued reliance on informal credit sources.
Barriers for the unbanked
While the ownership levels are high, India still accounts for a significant share of the 1.3 billion unbanked adults worldwide, largely due to its population size. The World Bank report said that the top reason cited by unbanked individuals in India was that another family member already had an account. The response suggested potential unmet demand for personal financial autonomy among both men and women.
Other major barriers include lack of money, high cost of financial services, and physical distance from financial institutions — each mentioned by around half of unbanked respondents.
Going forward…
According to the World Bank, India’s financial inclusion journey is far from over. While access has expanded dramatically, meaningful usage remains limited. To increase financial inclusion, the report stated, it is recommended that the country expand smartphone access, strengthen trust and digital security, and develop tailored financial products for low-income and rural users.