India's experiment in financial inclusion is paying off

...and not just in terms of a Guinness world record

From Vikaspedia, the Indian government's online information guide

One of the world’s foremost experiments in financial inclusion is marking its eighth birthday. India’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), also known as the National Mission for Financial Inclusion, aims to provide the unbanked a basic savings bank account as well as banking services that include a RuPay debit card. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 28, 2014 and has since clocked up notable successes.

In 2014, just 53 per cent of Indian adults had a bank account, compared to 62 per cent globally, according to Global Findex, the database launched by the World Bank with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to measure financial inclusion in more than 140 economies around the world. But the PMJDY changed the picture substantially. According to the 2017 Global Findex report, 80 per cent of Indian adults had bank accounts.

The scheme has an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for “…