Inclusion by Design: Building Financial Products That Reach Everyone
India has built financial access at an unprecedented scale.
- 400M+ active UPI users
• 500M+ Jan Dhan accounts
• Near-universal digital identity
Yet access ≠ inclusion.
At Bharat Fintech Summit 2026, Pawan Bakhshi (Gates Foundation), Mayur Modi (Moneybox Finance), Kartik Mehta (Pahel Financial Services), Thomas Muthoot John (Muthoot Microfin), moderated by Clemenston Varghese (Dvara Money) explored a powerful idea:
Inclusion is no longer constrained by infrastructure. It is constrained by design.
- Key Takeaways for BFSI & Fintech Leaders
- Data is the New Lever – but only if customers can control & share it through DPI, Account Aggregators & ULI
- “New to Credit” ≠ “High Risk” – many are new to formal systems, not to economic activity
- Cash Flow > Collateral – especially in rural & informal segments
- AI Must Be Explainable – inclusion fails when models become black boxes
- Human + Digital (Phygital) Wins – technology gives scale, human touch builds trust
- Product Design Must Reflect Real Behavior – repayment cycles, seasonality, local economics
- Partnerships Are Not Optional – ecosystem-led lending is the only scalable inclusion model
- Inclusion Poorly Designed = Systemic Risk
- Inclusion Well Designed = Durable, Profitable Portfolios
- A critical shift emerged in the conversation:
Stop calling it “Financial Inclusion.”
Start calling it Economic Empowerment.
The next decade will not be about onboarding more users.
It will be about designing products that underserved customers can actually use, trust, and grow with.
If you’re building in Digital Lending, Rural Finance, Embedded Credit, DPI, or AI-led underwriting inclusion must be built into your product architecture, not added later.
