NEW DELHI: Requesting banks to discourage cash transaction, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave banks time till March to ensure all accounts are Aadhaar-linked. “I would think ideally by December, if not by March 31, 2021, every account should have a PAN where needed and applicable and Aadhaar in
every case.
I don’t think beyond December this year I can even be patient to hear that there are still accounts in banks which are not yet Aadhaar seeded,” Sitharaman said during the virtual annual general meeting of the Indian Banks ‘Association.
The finance minister also asked banks to ensure they are using the latest technology to close the loopholes in the banking system to prevent duplication or fake beneficiaries of the government welfare schemes that are administered through direct benefit transfer.
Apart from that, she also asked them to promote Unified Payments Interface-based (UPI) transactions and Rupay cards to make the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) a global brand. She emphasised that the homegrown RuPay card will have to be the only card that banks should promote.
“Whoever needs the card, RuPay will be the only card you would promote. I wouldn’t think it is necessary today in India when RuPay is becoming global, for Indians to be given any other card first than the RuPay itself,” she added. In support of the amalgamation of banks, she said the country needed bigger banks but small ones also for rural areas.
The minister opined that amalgamation should not just remain as an exercise to bring two or three banks together. India can have eight more SBI’s in this country, post amalgamation, she said, adding, “I want large banks, large enough to meet the needs of a growing and aspiring India, and at the same time, smaller banks, banks so that they can reach out to far flung areas.”