National

Tiny village takes to ‘Branchless Banking’

TIRUPATI: Vidyut Sadasivapuram, a tiny village dotting the mango belt in Puttur Mandal of Chittoor district is suddenly in the news for a very different reason.

Under what is touted as ‘Branchless Banking Model’ to reach out to the community, Bank of India (BoI) has recently distributed ‘Smart Cards’ to the residents of Vidyut Sadasivapuram and Pottigutalu villages serviced by its Puttur branch. The pilot project, which is being implemented by the State Government in Chittoor, Warangal, Karimnagar, East Godavari, Medak and Mahaboobnagar districts, will facilitate disbursal of bank products such as crop loans, general loans and payments regarding the State schemes such as NREGS and SSP, besides subsidies, if any. The bank has appointed a business correspondent ‘Mother India Community Development Association’ which uses the modern biometric smart cards and voice-guided system (IT-enabled solution) to provide secure banking operations for the rural people.

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