RBI Financial Inclusion Index rises in FY25, driven by usage, quality and literacy push

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released its latest Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) for the year ending March 2025. The index now stands at 67.0, up from 64.2 in March 2024.

The FI-Index measures how far financial services have reached across India. It tracks three key areas — access, usage, and quality.

The RBI said all three areas saw growth this year. Most of the rise came from better usage of financial services and improved quality. The central bank said this shows deeper financial inclusion and the impact of ongoing financial literacy drives.

The RBI first published the FI-Index in August 2021 for FY 2021. It prepares the index in consultation with the government and other stakeholders.

In a separate development, the government on Monday (July 21) informed Parliament that the number of fraud cases in banks has dropped sharply this year.

As per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, commercial banks and financial institutions reported about 3.22 lakh fraud cases in FY 2023-24. This fell to around 1.25 lakh cases in FY 2024-25 — a drop of over 61% year-on-year.

The Ministry clarified there was no eightfold increase in bank frauds in the first half of this financial year, countering recent claims.

On losses from digital payment frauds, cyber frauds and app-based lending scams, the government shared five-year data bank-wise and State-wise, including for Odisha. The full details are part of annexures placed in the Lok Sabha reply.