Money Off The Shelf

Fathom this. Nearly half of India s around 320-million working population goes without even a basic, no-frills bank account. Just over a third of all households in the country s 5,400 cities and towns own an insurance policy, and under a fifth in her six lakh-odd villages. For all the euphoria of the recent stock market rally, there are just about 4.7-million retail mutual fund folios, and around 16 million demat account holders. If ever there was a blue ocean for marketers--a euphemism for big, untapped, uncontested markets--it is here, in hawking all manner of financial products to India s un-banked and un-insured ...

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