SBI looking to sell products via e-gram

The Gujerat government-pioneered e-gram project, which takes to ease e-governance inaugurals in small towns through a cardinal information and communication theory engineering (ICT) system could soon also move as a concern facilitator for banking products.

State Depository Financial Institution of Republic Of India (SBI) is working on this project, which would see e-gram kiosks be able to ease checking of business relationship balance, deposits, loans, coverage and other banking services through the Internet in bicycle-built-for-two with the nighest SBI branch.

"This is for the first clip a undertaking like this would be taken up in the country. Through this service, people from rural countries who dwell far away from a depository financial institution subdivision will be able to help of banking merchandises without having to personally see the nighest branch," said HC Pattnaik, main full general manager, SBI (Gujarat).

He added that Vadodara and countries near the metropolis would in most likeliness acquire the nod for the airplane pilot execution of the project.

SBI's subdivisions are under the core banking system and modes are being worked out on whether the rural ICT booths would be compatible with the engineering or a new platform would have got to be created. The depository financial institution is looking at targeting more than than 5,000 rural ICT booths in the adjacent 1 twelvemonth to duplicate up as its banking facilitator.

Under the Modesty Depository Financial Institution of Republic Of India guidelines, Banks are permitted usage of services of non-governmental organisations/self-help groups, microfinance establishments and other civil society arrangements as mediators in providing fiscal and banking services through the usage of concern facilitator and letter writer models.

A concern facilitator can set about designation of borrowers, aggregation and preliminary processing of loan applications, selling merchandises and follow-up for recovery whereas a concern letter writer can set about activities such as as expense of little value credit, recovery of principal or aggregation of involvement and little value deposits.

The bank's other rural initiative, SBI Tiny account, could also come up to Gujerat this year. The enterprise will enable villagers to begin a depository financial institution business relationship with sedimentation amount as low as Rs 50. The business relationship can be maintained with zero balance.

Also, a concern letter writer for SBI can utilize his/her cellphone to enter minutes which, in turn, is connected to a cardinal waiter in Mumbai. The undertaking is currently being piloted at Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

"We are looking at concern from facilitators and letter writers to travel up increasingly. In the adjacent two years, we could gain as much as Rs 1 crore per twelvemonth from each of the facilitator Centres we tie in with," said Pattnaik.

Under the concern facilitator model, SBI have already signed an MoU with Republic Of India Post to move as a facilitator for 50 station business offices in a airplane pilot undertaking at Surendranagar, Anand and Bharuch territories in Gujarat. It have also signed up with Gujerat Agro Industries Corporation to marketplace the bank's merchandises in 700 mercantile establishments of the 1,200 mercantile establishments in the state.

Further, SBI is looking at milk labor unions as facilitators. It have signed MoUs with Sabarkantha Dairy, Dudhsagar Dairy and Amul. The depository financial institution is looking to bind up with 7-8 more than co-operatives inch the adjacent 1 year.