Post demonetisation, most Jan Dhan accounts were opened in urban areas

Following demonetisation, public sector banks (PSBs) opened more accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) in urban centres than in rural areas.

Though PSBs added 4.30 crore accounts between November 9, 2016, and November 1, 2017, a little over half of these accounts came from urban centres and metros.

Prior to demonetisation, a majority of PMJDY accounts were opened in rural and semi-urban centres than in urban centres and metros.

True to their nature, regional rural banks (RRB) opened nearly three-fourth of the new accounts in rural and semi-urban centres.

Interestingly, the total number of these accounts in private banks is yet to reach one crore. Comparatively, RRBs sponsored by the public-sector major State Bank of India have nearly 1.26 crore PMJDY accounts.

With its wide reach and size, SBI alone accounts for a third of the total number of PMJDY accounts in the country.

While both PSBs and RRBs were able to issue RuPay cards to three-fourth of the PMJDY account holders, private banks issued almost 93 per cent of them.

ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank issued RuPay cards to 100 per cent and 99.96 per cent of to their respective PMJDY account holders.

Indian Bank and Vijaya Bank achieved their target of close to 99 per cent and Corporation Bank, 95 per cent. The RRBs sponsored by Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank issued the cards to 97 per cent and 95 per cent of their respective account holders.

With around one-fifth of the total deposits under PMJDY, SBI was ahead of all the RRBs put together. Its deposits under PMJDY accounts stood at ₹13,906 crore as on November 1.

Private banks’ total deposits under PMJDY stood at just above ₹2,000 crore as on November 1. However, it had reached a maximum of ₹2,745 crore on December 7, 2016.

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