The Hindu Business Line : FINO’s smart card covers over 10 lakh customers in 2 years

Coimbatore, May 1 Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd (FINO) — a multi-bank promoted company providing smart-card based multi-application solutions to the unbanked — has within two years of its existence enrolled over 10 lakh customers to use its services.

The Mumbai-based company is targeting to enrol at least 10 lakh customers every quarter from now on, such that no village or family would remain financially excluded, eventually. FINO’s biometric smart card has ushered in ‘the next big revolution’ in the rural banking and finance sector, says its Chief Financial Officer and President, Mr Rishi Gupta.

In an interview over phone to Business Line, Mr Gupta said the company was working with the Andhra Pradesh Government in five different districts. “The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) guarantees employment for the unemployed in the rural areas for 100 days in a year through works such as building roads, improving water supply and works that are necessary to improve the infrastructure in rural areas.

“Before we came into the picture, the payment of wages to these workers was either through banks or post office accounts and the disbursements invariably would take at least two weeks. We have resolved this by collecting the job card details from the Gram Panchayat or Mandal and issuing the biometric smart card to the persons enrolled under the NREGA scheme.

“Once the Gram Panchayat furnishes the wage-due details, it is uploaded on to the machine. Besides shortening the waiting time by a week, the smart card enables the card holder to withdraw cash by swiping the card and without waiting in long queues at the bank or post office counters,” he explained.

NREGA enrolled

About 2.5 lakh persons have been covered under the NREGA Scheme in Andhra Pradesh alone and FINO has issued cards to 70,000 this far. “The rest would be done in the next month or so,” Mr Gupta said.

FINO is working with the Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, where projects under the NREGA scheme are on. “It is still in a pilot stage in Tamil Nadu,” he said in reply to a query.

“We are also working with the health departments in the States of Haryana and Rajasthan, where the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) has been rolled out. The Rajasthan Government is trying to work out an all-in-one smart card by covering NREGA payments and insurance,” he explained.

Tie-ups

Meanwhile, FINO has tied up with 10 banks and three insurance companies and is working with five governments. “We are aiming to bring convergence of all products in one smart card, apart from a bouquet of offering to include beyond savings to loan and remittance.”

The bigger challenge for FINO, he said, was not technology, but the Business Correspondent team. “The cost per transaction becomes unviable if there are not enough customers. At times, the cost of customer handling is much more than the technology itself,” Mr Gupta said.

Related Stories:
FINO, PNB tie-up for smart cards

More Stories on : Financial Services | Technology | Credit Cards & Debit Cards

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
FINO’s smart card covers over 10 lakh customers in 2 years

Forex reserves: Rethinking volatility in capital flows

On bank loans and defaulters, and…
A borrower’s recourse to law

Exports grow 23% despite firm rupee

‘PSBs unlikely to raise lending rates’

New CII chief’s ‘mood meter’ reads positive

A lacklustre Q4 for public sector banks

Bimal Jalan joins HDFC board

Indian Bank to shed Rs 2,000 cr of high-cost deposits

IndianOil sells Rs 2,277 cr of oil bonds