Dwindling Levels of Financial Inclusion: An Exploratory Study in Lucknow India

This paper explores the financial inclusion landscape in Lucknow, India, and highlights the various reasons for low levels of financial access in the state. It seeks to evaluate the access of banking products among males and females and also determines other parameters shaping up the access to financial products. The paper is based on a sample of 300 respondents selected through judgmental sampling and simple random sampling with equal participation from men and women. It finds that financial access does vary across genders and factors such as low income levels, distance of bank branches, and high cost of maintaining bank accounts need to be addressed. It also suggests that the lack of awareness leads to underuse of financial interfaces and financial services. The paper covers the following sections in detail:

• Importance of financial inclusion and overview of factors limiting access to finance;
• Review of relevant literature;
• Research objectives and methodology;
• Discussion of results with a focus on access to finance as per gender, duration of holding bank accounts among respondents, reasons for savings, types of banking interfaces used, banking frequency, and reasons for non-usage;
• Concluding remarks and identification of areas in which intervention is required.