Socio-Economic and Demographic Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Underdeveloped Regions: A Case Study in India

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between financial inclusion and socio-economic and demographic factors. Ownership of bank accounts, availing of credit facility, and use of mobile banking were considered the major indicators of financial inclusion. To achieved this objective, the present study was conducted in the rural regions of three hill districts of Uttarakhand. 780 rural households were selected by using stratified and judgment sampling technique. To measure the association between the variables, binary logistic regression model was employed. The findings of the study revealed that there is a significant association of socio-economic variables with financial inclusion. The overall analysis of the study indicates that the likelihood of having bank account, usage of mobile banking facility, and availing credit facility increases with the increase in the financial literacy of an individual in hill rural regions of the state. Further, the study also indicates the vulnerability of women relative to that of men in both cases of mobile usage and availing credit. The findings of the study suggest to target the economically vulnerable section of population (as identified in case of having low financial inclusion) and enhancing the financial literacy in these regions.