SBI selects Maharashtra village to launch Aadhaar-based payments

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

In the backdrop of the SBI Colony at Nerul in Navi Mumbai going fully cashless, the State Bank of India has now selected Shirki village in Pen Taluka, Maharashtra, for driving Aadhaar-based merchant payments.

The Nerul-located colony, housing over 1,000 families of SBI officials, went on to earn the distinction of becoming the first cashless colony on December 18.

Within a week, the largest public sector lender has selected Shirki village -- with 2,000 households -- in Pen Taluka, Maharashtra, for driving the Aadhaar-based merchant payments, the bank said in a statement on Saturday here.

Under this initiative, bank volunteers have been meeting the families in the village and enabling them to open bank accounts and link those to their Aadhaar numbers, the statement said.

The merchants in the village have been provided with simple Android phones with a USB-based fingerprint capture device.

The merchant needs to download the Aadhaar Payment App and register with his/her bank using the mobile app. The consumer only needs to have a bank account with his Aadhaar number linked to it.

The consumer needs to pay the merchant by selecting the bank name (in the app) where he/she has an account and provide the fingerprint in the biometric device attached to the mobile phone.

The transaction is completed instantaneously and the consumer's account is debited by the value of the goods or service purchased and the merchant's bank account is duly credited.

"The consumer does not have to struggle with any technology -- just remember any password or PIN to make an instantaneous payment. We plan to drive this initiative across villages pan India," SBI Deputy Managing Director and CIO Mrutyunjay Mahapatra said.

--IANS

mm/nir/bg