State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, on Friday announced a slew of initiatives in the digital/e-commerce space — SBI Mingle (a social media banking platform), a digital village to transform villages into a cashless eco-system, besides a tie-up with Flipkart offering ‘pre-approved EMI’ for consumers.
Announcing these initiatives in Mumbai on SBI’s 61st Foundation Day, Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said: “We will be senior in age but junior in vision.” The bank plans to bring 100 villages under the digital village concept by FY17.
On the bank’s tie-up with Flipkart, Bhattacharya said: “We are proud that Mr Bansal’s company is an Indian-origin company and we wish it goes on to become a behemoth.”
A million customers of the bank are already eligible for the pre-approved EMI, according to senior bank officials.
SBI will provide overdraft facility to its customers purchasing goods worth ₹5,000 and above on Flipkart for a tenor of six, nine and 12 months without any processing fees. The bank has 60 million mobile banking customers as on date.