Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has sought views from stakeholders on USSD-based mobile banking services for financial inclusion.

This has been done in the back-drop of significantly large regions and populations which are still unbanked/ under-banked in the country.

“As per the Census 2011, only 54.4% of rural households had access to banking services. From the standpoint of equity, it is essential that financial services are provided at an affordable cost to those who are presently excluded from the formal financial system” Trai said.

It said that the fact that a large number of mobile subscribers in rural areas do not have access to banking facilities presents an opportunity for leveraging the mobile telephone to achieve the goal of financial inclusion.

“Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) appears to be one of the most promising modes for mobile banking for financial inclusion. In order to identify and address the various issues related to USSD-based mobile banking for financial inclusion, the Authority has issued the Consultation Paper.”