Directions
(1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions
given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you
locate them while answering some of the questions.
Financial
Inclusion (FI) is an emerging priority for banks that have nowhere
else to go to achieve business growth. The viability of FI business
is under question, because while banks and their delivery partners
continue to make investments, they haven't seen commensurate returns.
In markets like India, most programmes are focused on customer
on-boarding, an expensive process which people often find difficult
to afford, involving issuance of smart cards to the customers.
However, large-scale customer acquisition hasn't translated into
large-scale business, with many accounts lying dormant and therefore
yielding no return on the bank's investment. For the same reason,
Business Correspondent Agents, who constitute the primary channel for
financial inclusion, are unable to pursue their activity as a
full-time job. One major reason for this state of events is that the
customer on-boarding process is often delayed after the submission of
documents (required to validate the details of the concerned
applicant) by the applicant and might take as long as two weeks. By
this time the initial enthusiasm of applicants fades away. Moreover,
the delivery partners don't have the knowledge and skill to propose
anything other than the most basic financial products to the customer
and hence do not serve their banks"' goal of expanding the
offering in unbanked markets.
Contrary to popular
perception, the inclusion segment is not a singular impoverished,
undifferentiated mass and it is important to navigate its diversity
to identify the right target customers for various programmes. Rural
markets do have their share of rich people who do not use banking
services simply because they are inconvenient to access or have low
perceived value. At the same time, urban markets, despite a
high branch density, have multitude of low wage earners outside the
financial net. Moreover, the branch timings of banks rarely coincide
with the off-work hours of the labour class.
Creating
affordability is crucial in tapping the unbanked market. No doubt
pricing is a tool, but banks also need to be innovative in
right-sizing their proposition to convince customers that they can
derive big value even from small amounts. One way of doing this is to
show the target audience that a bank account is actually a lifestyle
enabler, a convenient and safe means to send money to family or make
a variety of purchases. Once banks succeed in hooking customers with
this value proposition they must sustain their interest by
introducing a simple and intuitive user application, ubiquitous
access over mobile and other touch points, and adopting a banking
mechanism which is not only secure but also reassuring to the
customer. Technology is the most important element of financial
inclusion strategy and an enabler of all others. The choice of
technology is therefore a crucial decision, which could make or mar
the agenda. Of the various section criteria, cost is perhaps the most
important. This certainly does not mean buying the cheapest package,
but rather choosing that solution which by scaling transactions to
huge volumes reduces per unit operating cost. An optimal mix of these
strategies would no doubt offer an innovative means of expansion in
the unbanked market.
1. Which of the following facts is
true as per the passage?
(1) People from rural areas have high
perceived value of banking services.
(2) Cost is not a valid
criterion for technological pack selection for financial-inclusion
initiatives.
(3) The inclusion segment is a singular
impoverished_ undifferentiated mass.
(4) The branch timings of
banks generally do not coincide with the off-work hours of the labour
class in urban markets
(5) All the given statements are true
2.
According to the passage, for which of the following reasons do the
delivery partners fail to serve their bank-‘s goal to expand in the
unbanked markets?
(A) They do not have adequate client base to
sell they financial products.
(B) They do not have adequate
knowledge and skills explain anything beyond basic financial products
to the customers.
(C) They do not have the skills to operate
advanced technological aids that are a prerequisite to tap the
unbanked-market.
1) Only (B)
2) Only (C)
3)All
(A), (B) & (C)
4) Only (A)
5) Both (B) and (C)
3.
According to the passage, for which of the following reasons is the
viability of financial inclusion under question?
(1) Banks
always prefer the cheapest package (to cut cost) while making a
choice of technology to be used.
(2) The Business Correspondent
Agents are highly demotivated to pursue their activity as a full-time
job.
(3) The investments made by banks and their delivery
partners are not yielding equal amounts of returns.
(4) Banks do
not have adequate number of delivery partners required to tap the
unbanked market.
(5) Banks do not have adequate manpower to
explore the diversity of the unbanked market and thereby identify the
right target customers for various programs.
4. In the
passage, the author has specified which of the following
characteristics of the customer on-boarding process?
(1) It
involves collection of documents from the applicants in order to
validate their details.
(2) It involves issuance of smart cards
to the customers.
(3) It suffers from latency as it takes a long
time after submission of documents by the customer
(4) It is an
expensive process which people find difficult to afford.
(5) All
of the given characteristics have been specified
5. What
did the author try to highlight in the passage?
(A) The ailing
condition of financial inclusion business at present
(B)
Strategies that may help banks expand in the unbanked market
(C)
Role of government in modifying the existing financial-inclusion
policies
(1) Both A & B
2) All A, B, & C
(3)
only C
(4)Only A
(5) Only B
6.
According to the passage, which of the following ways may help banks
sustain the interest of their customers after hooking them?
(A)
Adoption of a banking mechanism which is not only secure but
reassuring to the customers
(B) Increasing the number of
delivery partners in rural market
(C) Introduction of a simple
and intuitive user application
(1) Only (A)
(2) Only
(C)
(3) Only (B)
(4) All (A), (B) and (C)
5) Both (A)
and (C)
For Qs(7-8): Choose the word which is MOST SIMILAR
in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
7.
Multitude
1) Impoverished
2) Handful
3)
Acknowledged
4) Plenty
5) Solitude
8.
Ubiquitous
(1) Quintessential
(2) Popular
(3)
Omnipresent
(4) Simplified
(5) Abnormal
For Qs
(9-10): Choose the word which is MOST OPPOSITE in meaning to the word
printed in bold as used in the passage.
9. Dormant
1)
Emaciated
2) Pertinent
3) Cornered
4) Rejected
5) Active
10. Delayed
1) Perturbed
2) Popularised
3) Expedited
4)
Stabilised
5) Represse
ANSWERS
1.
4
2. 1
3. 3
4. 5
5. 1
6. 5
7. 4
8.
3
9. 5
10. 3
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