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Our Bureau

Banks taking benefits of technology to rural areas

Mumbai , Jan. 10

The Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), along with banks, is rolling out a pilot project at Warangal in Andhra Pradesh to offer biometric cards to people in rural areas.

"The software development and testing are in progress," said Mr Arvind Sharma, Member Secretary, Governing Council and Director, IDRBT.

Union Bank of India, SBI, Andhra Bank and UTI Bank, among others, are participating in this project.

Under the pilot project, each bank will appoint a village business facilitator to identify account holders before offering biometric cards to villagers for use at the terminals deployed in the area.

"The project is being implemented at six mandals in the district. In the initial phase, 200 biometric terminals will be deployed," Mr Sharma said at a Banknet India conference.

The pilot project will reach around 50,000 villagers. The Government can use the channel to route statutory payments such as wages to the rural poor under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.

The pilot project will start on February 15 and will be monitored for three months before it is taken to other areas.

IDRBT will act as a neutral platform. "There is also a plan to involve regional rural banks in the future," said Mr Sharma.

Speaking on financial inclusion, Mr M.V. Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of Union Bank of India, said that benefits of the online system have been restricted to metros and urban areas.

"It is time we start examining systems that extend benefit of the financial system to remote areas that lack infrastructure."

Smart cards and handheld devices can ensure that benefits reach the poor at reasonable costs.

"Mobile phone technology could also be examined to expand the scope and reach of our payment and settlements systems," he said.

More Stories on : Technology | Rural Development | Andhra Pradesh

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