The Hindu Business Line : ‘One country, one bank account’ may turn a reality

Mumbai, Jan. 6 If you are banking with several banks, keeping track of all the accounts can prove to be cumbersome. Life would be easy if a single account number gives you access to all banks.

Well, the Indian Banks’ Association, at the behest of the Government, is examining the feasibility of a ‘One Country, One Bank Account’ proposal whereby a single bank account is all that an individual would need to transact business at any bank in the country.

If the ‘One Country, One Bank Account’ proposal, currently on the drawing board stage, becomes a reality, it could revolutionise the way banking transactions are carried out in India. From ‘Any Branch Banking’ services being currently offered by individual banks, the Indian banking system would be graduating to ‘Any Bank Branch Banking’.

With ATM-cum-debit cards now being enabled for conducting transactions across the ATM networks of banks in the country, the ‘Any Bank Branch Banking’ could as well see the light of day in a few years.

“The Government has asked us to examine the feasibility of the ‘one country, one account’ concept. It is a challenging concept whereby an individual with a unique account number can go to any bank for transacting business. Technology holds the key to its implementation,” said Mr Sanjay Sharma, member, IBA’s Information Technology Committee, and Managing Director & CEO, IDBI Intech.

Mr Sharma said IndiaPay, the retail payments hub being set up under the aegis of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), would help link up all banks, ATMs, Point of Sale (POS) terminals, mobile service providers, etc., as an aggregator for enabling seamless payment and settlement.

Once IndiaPay becomes operational, all ATM and POS transactions would be settled in India. Currently, these transactions are routed through international payment gateways of MasterCard and Visa.

According to Mr K. Unnikrishnan, Deputy Chief Executive, IBA, the NPCI, which has an authorised capital of Rs 300 crore and paid-up capital of Rs 100 crore, has engaged the services of a global HR search firm to zero in on a CEO and key operations personnel.

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