The Hindu Business Line : Corporation Bank increasing branchless banking units

Mangalore, July 22 Corporation Bank, which has initiated branchless banking units to reach the people in unbanked areas, is gradually increasing the number of such units in rural areas. In addition to this, the bank is expanding the facility to dairy farmers and for making payments under the NREG (national rural employment guarantee) scheme.

Mr B. Sambamurthy, Chairman and Managing Director, told Business Line that the number of branchless banking units crossed 105 at the end of June. This number stood at 33 at the end of March. “We are planning to set up another 100 branchless banking units by the end of August,” he said.

In the model, the bank appoints a business correspondent in an un-banked area. The business correspondent uses modern biometric smart cards and voice-guided systems to provide secure banking facilities to the rural populace without any barrier on timings.

In the initial phase of the implementation of these units, the bank focused on some rural areas in Karnataka. In the proposed expansion, it is planning to focus on rural areas in Chittoor and Coimbatore belts in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, respectively. A majority of the proposed units will come up in these areas.

Apart from serving the individual villager through these units, the bank is now focusing on other segments such as dairy farmers and NREG schemes.

In some parts of Andhra Pradesh, payments to NREG beneficiaries and dairy farmers are being done through Corporation Bank’s branchless banking units.

Mr Sambamurthy said that the bank is doing a branchless banking project with the National Dairy Development Board at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. Earlier, the dairy farmers, who supply milk to the dairies, were getting payments in cash. But in this project, the payment gets directly credited to the farmer’s account. The farmer can transact his/her account through branchless banking units.

He pointed out that the project had created demand for recurring deposits among the dairy farmers in Chittoor area. The payments of NREG scheme are also routed through these units.

Earlier, in both the cases, the payments to the beneficiaries were made in cash.

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