The banking industry in India has undergone a transformation since the early 1980s under the impact of deregulation, advances in information technology, and globalization. These forces have increased competitive pressures which have prompted banks to seek new sources of revenue beyond traditional products. With financial inclusion emerging as a major policy objective in the country, micro finance has occupied center stage as a promising conduit for extending financial services to unbanked sections of India's population. Micro finance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups, including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services. Micro finance can assist the poor in working their way out of poverty. It covers a wide range of services like credit, savings, insurance, remittance, as well as non-financial services like training, counselling, etc. This volume contains research papers, authored by scholars in the field of finance, which provide deep insights into the functioning of the banking sector and micro finance institutions in India. [Subject: India Studies, Economics, Banking, Finance]