The Reserve Bank of India has accorded its approval for the merger of Bharat Financial Inclusion and IndusInd Bank. The merger will see IndusInd Bank creating a wholly-owned subsidiary and transfer the business of Bharat Financial Inclusion to it by way of slump exchange. The two entities are expected to gain competitive advantage, realize synergies, and enhance their financial performance in the medium-to-long term. The bank will have a huge strategic head-start over peers through acquisition of best-in-class capabilities in the MFI space and it will have a large rural customer base and branches. The new subsidiary will be engaged in providing business correspondent services to IndusInd Bank.