Financial inclusion, biometric identification and mobile: unlocking the JAM trinity

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to understand the interlinkage with financial inclusion and how it interacts with biometric identification. To investigate this in detail, the authors employ household-level data on India to examine the interlinkage among Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) account, Aadhaar card and mobile telephony. Design/methodology/approach Given the survey data, the authors employ 3 stage least squares (3SLS) methodology to explore the association among these key variables, while controlling for other household, district and economy-wide factors. Findings The findings provide strong evidence of complementarity among these variables, with each tending to reinforce the other. This complementarity is reflected primarily in respect of PMJDY and Aadhaar, but much less so with regard to mobile telephony. Additionally, this complementarity is manifest more prominently in the long run, although it is much less so in the short run. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies for India to systematically examine the Jan-Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity.