Fino Payments Bank is working with the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM) to train and onboard 10,000 women from Self Help Groups (SHG) as business correspondent (BC) Sakhis in the State.

“The agreement in this regard was signed on Friday at an event organised by the UP government in the presence of State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,” the bank said in a statement.

The project, implemented over the next three months, is part of UPSRLM’s mission to onboard around 58,000 women as BC Sakhis ,or banking agents, across all the 75 districts of the State, it further said.

Better banking access

Fino is one of banking partners and facilitators engaged for the project to appoint BC Sakhis, it said, adding that the project is aimed at improving banking access in rural UP and enhancing the household income of the SHG members.

Ashish Ahuja, Chief Operating Officer, Fino Payments Bank, said: “It is an opportunity for women in rural areas to showcase their entrepreneurial spirit and improve income. As banking agents in the villages they play a critical role in helping people adopt banking services.”

The 10,000 BC Sakhis are in addition to the already existing over 50,000 Fino merchants in Uttar Pradesh.

As part of the broader National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) initiative, each BC Sakhi will also receive financial support for the first six months of Rs 24,000 to help her in the initial phase.

Each BC Sakhi will also be provided with an integrated POS device, cash box, and fake currency identifier to enable her to undertake all basic banking services, except credit, the bank said.

Further, to ensure safe transactions in the current pandemic, a contactless iris scanner for customer authentication will also be provided.

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