UP gets digital banking footprint with four of the 75 DBUs on its soil

An excited crowd was milling around outside Indian Bank, a public-sector bank, in the upscale Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow on Sunday morning.

Shunning the goggle-box in the cozy confines of their homes, the people, braving a strong autumn sun, were eagerly watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a makeshift giant screen, dedicating 75 digital banking units (DBUs) across the country via video conference.

With this initiative, Uttar Pradesh and other states were ushered into an era of an accelerated digital banking template. Among the 75 DBUs, four are located in UP — Lucknow, Kanpur Dehat, Varanasi, and Jhansi districts — and will be facilitated by different public-sector commercial banks. The Lucknow DBU is hosted by Indian Bank in the upmarket Vijay Khand block of Gomti Nagar.

The brick-and-mortar DBU will provide facilities such as opening savings bank accounts, balance checking, passbook printing, funds transfer, term deposits, loan applications, stop-payment instructions, credit/debit card applications, and paying taxes/bills. Abhishek Singh, a college student, said the DBU, which will always be in operation, would provide a seamless banking experience. Similarly, Seema, a homemaker, sounded enthusiastic about the concept. Meanwhile, Indian Bank Executive Director Imran Amin Siddiqui said the bank had deployed the best of the staff members to offer assistance to the people taking DBU service.

The Lucknow DBU inauguration ceremony was attended by UP Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak and UP Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary.

“Indian Bank has been investing liberally in upgrading digital banking operations. The DBU will further this objective and go a long way in achieving the digital banking vision of the prime minister,” he added. Siddiqui further said the DBU template would also supplement the Yogi Adityanath government’s goals in social and socio-economic sectors, including the one-district-one-product (ODOP) scheme.

In his virtual address, Modi said DBUs would provide maximum services through minimum digital infrastructure. In Union Budget 2022-23, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced setting up 75 DBUs in 75 districts to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence.

The DBU are being set up to ensure the benefits of digital banking reach the remotest of places. About 11 public-sector banks, 12 private banks and a small finance bank are participating in the DBU model.

There will be “adequate” digital mechanisms to offer real-time assistance and redress customer grievances arising from business and services offered by the DBUs directly or through business facilitators/correspondents.