Financial Health Survey Shows Major Regional Disparities in India

A PwC-Dvara survey reveals 37% of households in the East never sought financial advice, and 65% of renters there can't raise Rs 30,000 for an emergency. The report highlights major regional disparities in financial health across India.

Major Regional Disparities in Financial Services

Thirty-seven per cent of households in the East have never sought financial advice, while 23 per cent sought it but did not receive it, according to a financial health survey conducted by PwC India in partnership with the Dvara Research Foundation. The report highlighted major regional disparities in how households experience and utilize formal financial services across the country.

For instance, 65 per cent of renters in the East cannot mobilize Rs 30,000 for an emergency. In contrast, households in the South show the highest multi-service digital financial services (DFS) adoption at over 70 per cent. However, formal financial service providers supply only 13 per cent of financial advice in the southern region, with 44 per cent coming from third-party providers and 40 per cent from social networks.

Call to Shift Focus from Inclusion to Financial Health

Vivek Belgavi, Partner and Leader, Financial Services Advisory, PwC India, said, "India's financial services ecosystem has made remarkable progress in expanding access."

"The next frontier is financial health. That means designing products around real household cash flows, combining digital scale with human support, and measuring success through resilience, meaningful usage, and long-term customer outcomes," Belgavi said.

The report noted that income volatility serves as the single biggest drag on financial health. Fixed monthly commitments, such as rigid EMIs or regular annual premiums, structurally penalize a majority of this segment.

Misha Sharma, Lead, Dvara Research, said, "India's inclusion story has delivered dramatic expansion in account ownership and credit, yet high rates of dormant accounts and the ongoing NPA stress in microfinance show that product ownership has not reliably translated into suitable use or improved financial lives."

Hybrid Approach and Product Redesign Urged

According to the report, a combination of physical and digital channels leads to the highest usage and outcome scores across all regions. While digital platforms drive initial enrollment, human touchpoints sustain engagement and trust.

The report emphasizes that account openings and digital onboarding are no longer sufficient, urging providers to redesign products around irregular cash flows.

"The Financial Health Survey is our contribution to shifting the operative goal from financial inclusion to financial health -- equipping providers and policymakers with the adaptive capacity to respond to customers' actual experiences of financial products," Sharma said.

(ANI)

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