Branchless banking - reaching out to remote villages

"If I want to visit the nearest branch, I will have to spend a major portion of may day's earning as bus charge to and fro (nearly Rs.10-12). With that, half of my day's productivity will come down," says Zulaikha, who also nurses her ailing mother at home. For Zulaikha, fellow village Shobha is the banker. Shobha, a member of the local self-help group, is the Business Correspondent of Corporation Bank in Surinje village of Dakshina Kannada district. Her home serves as the extension counter of Tadambail branch, situated 8 km away from the village, providing basic banking facilities to the villagers. Zulaikha wanted to deposit a portion of her savings with the bank at Shobha's house. After enquiring about the health of her mother, Shobha asked Zulaikha for her smart card, to be inserted in the small device kept at her house. Unlike in the sophisticated systems, where one has to produce a PIN (personal identification number) and passwords, the customer is asked to place her left thumb at the place marked on the device. Voice guidance from the device confirms the authentication of the transaction to both the customer and the banking correspondent. This system is now proving to be a role model on how banking facilities can be taken to more un-banked areas in the country.