In a first, Kotak launches an offline funds transfer facility

The initiative allows customers to transfer up to Rs 2,500 per day

Kotak Mahindra Bank launched a fund transfer service for its offline mobile app 'Bharat' in Ahmedabad on Thursday. With this, Kotak has become the first bank in India to offer a funds transfer facility that does not require an internet connectivity or a beneficiary.

It has also launched Kotak Bharat app in Gujarati and is planning to release the app in other regional languages in the coming months. At present, this app is available in English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

"This [initiative] encourages cashless transactions by enabling customers to transfer up to Rs 2,500 per day and at a time," said Deepak Sharma, executive vice president and head of digital initiatives at Kotak Mahindra Bank.

To make offline transactions secure, the bank has an encryption code process to enable users to transfer funds.

Sharma said, "The process of funds transfer is simple and totally secure as the transaction can only be initiated from customer's registered mobile number. Further, customers will get a confirmation SMS on the registered mobile number, which is encrypted, and hence cannot be tampered."

According to Kotak Bank, saving account holders use mobile banking the most, having recorded monthly transactions worth Rs 1,700 crore via the mobile app.

"Nearly, 30% of our saving account holders use mobile banking. This ratio is about 17% in the banking industry in India," said Sharma.

About 90 banking services are available on the mobile app, while in the Bharat app, the bank provides 23 services and will add more in the offline app.