nearly 384, 000. out of these, 115, 350 banking outlets were opened during the year – 2013 – 14. ii. nearly 5, 300 rural branches were opened during the last one year. out of these, nearly 4, 600 branches were opened in unbanked rural centres ( tier v and tier vi centres ). iii. nearly 33500 bc outlets were opened in urban locations during the year taking the total number of bc outlets in urban locations to 60730 as at the end of march 2014. iv. more than 60 million basic savings bank deposit accounts ( bsbdas ) were added during the last year taking the total number of bsbdas to 243 million. v. with the addition of 6. 2 million small farm sector credits during the year 2013 – 14, there are 40 million such accounts as on march 31, 2014. vi. with the addition of 3. 8 million small non - farm sector credits during the year 2013 – 14, there are 7. 4 million such accounts as on march 31, 2014. vii. nearly 328 million transactions were carried out in bc - ict accounts during the last year as compared to 250 million transactions during 2012 – 13. though, the number of bc - ict transactions has shown a considerable increase during the last year the average transaction per account still remains low. the focus of monitoring is now more on usage of these accounts through issue of more credit products through the channel. the reserve bank also issued guidelines to strengthen the bc model. implementation and monitoring of financial inclusion targets should focus on usage of bank accounts, and expand beyond transfer payouts. as the recent inter media survey shows, only half the bank accounts have been active over the previous three months. in order to increase transactions, there should be clear communication to customers about the mission and banks should be incentivised to provide appropriate products that increase usage. bis central bankers ’ speeches way forwardstructure with adoption of new branchless delivery channels by banks, there is a need for banks to revamp the structure for carrying out banking operations considering their competitive, comparative advantage and build strategy and a business case. each bank has to, based on its business strategy, develop a structure that can enhance its financial inclusion efforts. innovation • business models should be designed to be at least self - supporting in the initial phase and profit - making in the long run, with an unwavering focus on affordability for the poorer person transacting in the penny economy where there are large volume

are blended with a heloc component. helocs have been a very convenient tool for many households. they give borrowers flexibility to finance renovation projects or handle emergencies — such as when your furnace dies on a cold february night. their popularity shows how useful these lending arrangements are. however, there are some potential risks that borrowers need to manage. helocs usually allow the borrower to pay only the interest on the loan each month, leaving the principal amount unchanged. indeed, about 40 per cent of heloc borrowers are not regularly paying down their principal, which means that debt loads may persist longer than in the past. furthermore, some may be using their heloc to speculate — for example, to fund a down payment on a second house with the intention of flipping it. given the potential for volatility in house prices and for higher interest rates, such activity may be adding to the overall vulnerability of the system. we have seen several rounds of macroprudential measures to tighten mortgage finance rules. these include measures last year that were aimed at high - ratio mortgages — those where the down payment is less than 20 per cent of the value of the home. since then, there has been a sharp drop in the number of highly indebted canadians obtaining these mortgages — and by highly - indebted we have in mind people with a ratio of debt to income that is more than 450 per cent. but we have also seen an increase in low - ratio mortgages with risky characteristics, such as extended amortization periods. new lending guidelines for low - ratio mortgages, which will come into effect next year, should work to limit the number of low - ratio mortgages going to highly indebted households. these mortgage rule changes will help build up the resilience of the financial system over time, as each new mortgage will be stress - tested to ensure that the borrower can manage a higher interest rate at renewal time. it is important to remember that the purpose of these rule changes is not to control house prices. ultimately, the laws of supply and demand will determine the direction of house prices. at the same time, there is little doubt that these rule changes will mean less growth in our housing sector. in the wake of the global financial crisis, ultra - low interest rates have helped our economies weather the storm, but an important by - product has been exceptional growth in housing. for some time now we have been expecting a rotation