Education and financial literacy: catalysts for adopting financial services

The objective of the paper is to examine the impact of education and awareness about financial services on ability to use financial services. Data have been collected randomly from three villages of West Bengal. Household is considered as the sampling unit. Data is analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). SPSS 20 is used to confirm the hypothetical relationship among the above-mentioned variables through regression analysis. Awareness of financial services positively impacts the ability to use financial services. Similarly, Education significantly impacts the ability to use financial services. Hence, formal education and financial literacy are important predictors for rural households to use financial services. This indicates the necessity for a financial literacy program in the rural area.