NEW DELHI: India’s largest private lender HDFC Bank on Wednesday signed an agreement with CSC SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) to enable three lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) of the Common Services Centers to operate as its banking correspondents.
HDFC Managing Director Aditya Puri said the agreement will not op the government’s initiative to promote financial inclusion in rural areas, but also bring in good business opportunities for them.
“This is a very good business for us. Sixty per cent of the country lives in semi-urban and rural India. So, jointly, we hope to benefit the people, the government and ourselves too,” Puri said.
Puri said that through this initiative, they can reach to a position to provide all the banking services in rural India. “We also desire to substitute the moneylenders. So, whatever services we are offering in Delhi, we will offer in villages too,” he said.
Apart from offering primary services such as the opening of e-KYC savings bank accounts, current accounts with Bharat QR core, fixed deposits and fund transfers, the bank would also provide loan services such as a vehicle, personal, business and consumer durable loans.
The HDFC MD said that while it is too early to predict the rise in new account holders from the initiative, they clearly see it as a win-win situation for everyone. The systems of HDFC would be integrated with CSCs, so that they can offer all the services, he explained.
The HDFC banking correspondents under this arrangement would also function as business facilitators, who will help and support citizens - merchants, youths, entrepreneurs, farmers and women - avail loan facility from the bank to support their economic uplift.
This agreement is expected to significantly contribute to government’s objectives of enabling direct benefit transfer (DBT) of various schemes. The government has said that women, senior citizens and persons with disabilities would especially get benefitted through the initiative.
This would also facilitate withdrawal and deposit of government entitlements such as payments under MGNREGA as well as various social welfare schemes like widow pensions, handicapped and old age pensions.
Apart from this, HDFC Bank will support CSCs in converting 1,000 identified villages into Digi Gaon (Digital Villages) within this financial year. As part of the Digi Gaon initiative, CSCs were providing various online services of the Central and state governments.