“Digital Inclusion for the Unbanked in India”
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**Problem Statement**: Although India has emerged as an economic power, approximately 48% of households (around 250 million people) continue to operate outside traditional financial systems. With the introduction of new financial regulations and digitization projects, a growing demand from underbanked individuals in India has created an unmet need in the financial market that traditional Indian institutions are poorly equipped to accommodate. SubK aims to meet this unmet need by digitizing their mobile banking platforms.
Innovative solutions for digital banking in India
**Introduction:** Kiruthika, Thomas, and Rafael are SubK executives tasked with leading their newly established company to meet a critical consumer pain-point in the South Asian country of India – reaching out to customers unbanked population.
Sub-K Impact Solutions: Serving Underbanked Consumers with Digital Solutions
Lead-in: When Kiruthika Ramanathan led her team at the launch, the Indian economy had just begun a remarkable transition. India had set up digital pathways for businesses and individuals to use cashless services during transactions and even deposit or withdraw small monetary units online. Meanwhile, a critical issue persists. Not all people have access or convenience to use this technology to make a sustainable business model as there try this out large portions of the subcontinent whose populations continue to lack both basic physical as well as financial assets needed to participate in transactions digitally. The population who never owned or even borrowed a dime became one among the world’s ‘most ignored market sectors’, a population that continues to be ‘unable to access many fundamental amenities of modern life’. It came out the company named Sub-K could address one significant challenge of Indian consumers whose traditional transactions involved physical assets to purchase a wide array of goods that they often bought from street vendors instead
“Kiruthika, Rafael and Thomas discuss the potential impact of Sub-K Impact Solutions in bridging
# Section My Vulnerability and Personal Growth Journeys
Sub-k Impact Solutions’ (SIS) digital payment infrastructure offers numerous opportunities to improve economic participation for individuals in underserved markets in India. However, even as more and more people use SIS’s technology to facilitate secure and user-friendly transactions for purchasing goods and
Empowering India’s Underbanked Through Digital Solutions.
Lead-In: For some businesses,
“Maximizing Financial Inclusion through Digital Innovation in India.”
Submitted on 02 Apr 2023
**I LOVE this topic! Kiruthika Ramanathan, one of my HBS classmates, reached an incredible milestone by getting a $1 million donation to fund her social enterprise Sub-K. This case presents so much potential. A significant market for banking digitization that is untapped in India – around a billion people, no access to basic bank accounts (only ~15%) – with great cultural nuances that have to be fully considered, especially as this technology gains pace rapidly with India embracing tech innovation in other industries as well. So there is ample of data at my disposal which was a godsend to me when I took this as assignment for submission.**
At the heart of the problem, the challenge of getting a large investment to continue scaling Sub-K operations beyond our pilot test that will impact positively India population’s 1 billion underunbanked consumers who have a lack of access. We are dealing
“Digital financial inclusion for India’s unbanked through Sub-K Impact Solutions.”
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“Transforming Financial Inclusion through Digital Solutions in India”
### (CORR RECT CURR): Local law practices and small regulation quirks
The key problem lies within local laws and regulations that hinder the entry or expansion of digital finance businesses into areas with little legal protection and framework around these activities. In particular in India, various state laws such as those on “unlicensed telecommunication” can be used to shut down fintech entities and create further roadblocks for growth in un banked areas that are most important to reaching consumers through digital banking tools. There are also potential gaps or inconsistencies
“Sub-K Impact Solutions: Empowering India’s Unbanked Population through Digital Transformation”
Key Note: As an aside, some interesting data shows that India had more smartphone subscriptions than credit card payments back in 2022 when I was writing up the section in which India is considered an area of strong technological innovation. Lead into Problem Description, as mentioned above – “Sub-K Impact Solutions” seems to face similar issues with others. It operates only in certain regions of South Asia, with few partners outside the country (with only two partnership agreements at the time). However, despite its limited customer base (over half of its revenue coming from one major telecom partner), “SUB-K” has a customer growth rate comparable to that seen from giants such as M-PESA, Vodafone and Jasper Wireless who operate across much larger geographic locations in several continents. In fact, between January and July 2018, SUB-K next impressive growth