India unveils Aadhaar payment services
Summary: Country takes a major step toward financial inclusion with the launch of Saral Money, enabling the common man to open and operate an "instant" bank account through micro-ATMs.
NEW DELHI--India's leading banks along with global financial services company Visa have launched a new payment initiative aimed at bridging the country's digital divide, and to provide millions of financially-excluded Indians a simple way to open a bank account and access financial services.
Launched here Wednesday by Delhi's chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Saral Money is a Visa "instant account" which is linked to an individual's Aadhaar number--a 12-digit individual identificationissued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on behalf of the government of India.
Five banks--Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and the State Bank of India--will offer Saral Money through their banking correspondents (BCs) across the country in a phased manner. BCs are individuals who work as bank agents in areas which do not have branches. A BC company manages these agents.
No comments:
Post a Comment