The Banking Ombudsman, Mr F.R. Joseph, has launched ‘Sahayahastham,' a new project as part of the financial inclusion drive of State Bank of Travancore (SBT).

The project is being implemented with the help of Kudumbasree units under the State's larger poverty eradication mission of the same name, an SBT spokesman said here. The scheme would aim to bring the weaker sections and low-income groups under the banking services mainstream in as yet unbanked areas.

The programme was launched at a function at Veeranakavu village in rural Thiruvananthapuram.

In his presidential address, Mr P. Pradeep Kumar, Managing Director, SBT, said that ‘Sahayahastham' would aim to bring banking services to the common man's doorstep at an affordable cost.

The bank is using biometric cards and a simple portable machine for implementing the financial inclusion, the spokesman said.

Fingerprints of the depositor are stored in the machine assuring 100 per cent security to the deposits. The bank will utilise the services of the Kudumbasree units for opening new accounts.