Monday, September 22, 2008

'RRBs’ can play a significant role in financial inclusion

Speaking at a day long seminar of State Bank of India in Mumbai, K J Taori, general manager, agri business unit, said the regional rural banks (RRBs) have an important role in the real last mile financial inclusion. He said their role can be of greater importance then the scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) in achieving the goals of financial inclusion.

The seminar, titled as ‘Charting a roadmap for IT-enabled financial inclusion’ was held by Frost & Sullivan and was presented by Atom in association with The Financial Express on Thursday.

Taori said RRBs will be able to do all this only when they are technologically upgraded and other requirements are met by the government as well as banks sponsoring them. He added that that all RRBs should be given financial support so that they can actively participate in the financial inclusion program. Taori pointed out in actual the RRBs’ requirement is dual which include upswing and downswing.

Speaking on the similar lines, Anandi Lal, general manager, priority sector and RRB, Dena Bank, added that RRBs can have even a greater role in financial inclusion than SCBs who are responsible for their sponsorship. But, technology should be different for the things like collection, deposits and advances for RRBs, said Lal stressing on the need for the speedy computerization of all RRBs.

Mukund L Abhyankar, chairman, The Cosmos Co-operative Bank outlined that even as customer education was the need of the hour, but connectivity is definitely a problem for smooth functioning of biometric cards in rural areas.

However, he appreciated the recent guideline issued by the Reserve Bank of India directing banks not to levy any charge for transactions through ATMs in future.

Addressing the reporters on the sidelines of the seminar, Shyamal Acharya, SBI chief general manager, rural business, said that his bank is planning to offer credit products through its no-frills accounts.

“Also, SBI is looking to mobilize more deposits in such accounts to enhance business viability of its rural banking/ financial inclusion operations,” said Acharya.

During the current fiscal year SBI will be opening around 1,000 branches in the rural and semi urban areas.