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ABSTRACT
Financial Literacy means the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic financial information and services needed to make appropriate financial decisions. Assessing the levels of financial literacy in the population is a key component of a successful national strategy for financial education, enabling policy makers to identify gaps and design appropriate responses. In this backdrop, a study has carried out to understand the level of the financial Literacy of the common public of Select Districts of Tamilnadu towards Banking Products and Services. The researchers concluded that the financial literacy level is low among the respondent and they also suggested various methods for the Banks to enhance the financial literacy level among the public.
Keywords: Financial Literacy, Financial Inclusion, Banking Products, Banking Services, Banks.
1. INTRODUCTION
Financial literacy refers to the ability to make informed judgment and to take effective decisions regarding the use and management of money. Financial literacy is regarded as an important requirement for functioning effectively in modern society and trends in retirement income policies, work patterns and demography suggest its importance can only increase in the year ahead. Raising financial literacy supports social inclusion and enhances the well being of the community. Financial literacy can broadly be defined as the capacity to have familiarity with and understanding of financial market product, especially rewards and risk in order to make informed choices. Viewed from this standpoint, financial literacy primarily relates to personal financial literacy to enable individuals to take affective actions to improve overall well-being and avoid distress in matters that are financial. The need for the financial literacy is felt in the developed and the developing countries alike. In the developed countries, the increasing number and complexity of financial products, the continuing shiftin responsibility for providing social society from governments and financial institutions to individuals, and the growing importance of individual retirement planning make it imperative that financial literacy be provided to al. In the developing countries also, the increasing participation of growing number of consumers in newly developing financial markets will necessitate the provision of financial literacy- if these market to expand and operate efficiently. In addition, the substantial growth of international transactions during the last decade, resulting from new technology and growing...