<h1>Government to Use Postal Network for Financial Inclusion, Proposes Payments Bank for Rural Areas, Aligns NBFC Regulation.</h1> The government plans to enhance access to the formal financial system by leveraging the extensive postal network, which has about 154,000 points of presence in villages nationwide. The Finance Minister announced this initiative during the Union Budget 2015-16 presentation, emphasizing the role of the Postal Department's proposed Payments Bank in supporting the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. Additionally, to align the regulation of Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) with other financial institutions, NBFCs registered with the RBI and having an asset size of Rs. 500 crore or more will be considered for notification as Financial Institutions under the SARFAESI Act, 2002.