Boon or Bane: An Empirical Analysis of Consumer Preferences for Payment Banks in Western and Eastern India

Financial inclusion can change the pattern of financial service provider to the nation and develop a new platform for the service utilisation. The past decade went through many technological and innovative changes which ignited range of new services providing platform to the nation thereby facilitating new changes into economy. After the initial banking correspondence services under financial inclusion, new services were offered to common people through payment bank. Payment bank in itself came as a more innovative concept which presents distinctive features including saving time, minimising cost, ease of usage, technology orientation and a new way of reaching common people through service. Adoption of payment bank has resulted in financial dissemination and resulted in reduction demographics inequalities. With payment banks financial awareness among people has spread and diverted resources to organised sector from unorganised ones which ultimately results in economic growth. In this research, we have collected data from 110 samples from cities of Ahmadabad, Gandhinagar (Western India) and Kolkata and adjoining areas (Eastern India). Based on statistical analysis, some suggestions have also been provided for improvement in payment banking system in concerned areas.