Integra bags contract from Allahabad Bank

Integra Micro Systems (P) Ltd, the Bangalore-based information technology (IT) services provider, has bagged a financial inclusion contract from Kolkata-based public sector lender Allahabad Bank.

The five-year contract is estimated to be around Rs 100 crore, according to industry experts.

“We have bagged the contract to provide financial inclusion services to Allahabad Bank. As per the contract, we will appoint business correspondents and will facilitate transaction in rural areas through them,” a top company official said. He, however, declined to disclose the value of the contract.

Allahabad Bank has identified 1,850 villages to be covered under the financial inclusion programme by March 2012. These villages are spread across 147 districts in 12 states.

All villages have been clubbed into three clusters, namely cluster I, II and III, which will be covered by the bank in phases.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India asked commercial banks to provide basic banking services in villages with a population of 2,000 and above, by 2012.

Banks have also been asked to plan to cover villages with a population of less than 2,000 in an integrated manner over the next three to five years.

Financial inclusion by commercial banks has proved to be an opportunity for IT companies. Barring the contract value, these solution providers will also have a revenue sharing arrangement with the bank, which will be determined per number of transactions.

Earlier, TCS bagged a deal for implementing the smart card-based financial inclusion solution of Indian Bank to extend banking services in unbanked and under-banked areas.

This will enable Indian Bank to reach around 3.5 million customers over the next three years.

Similarly, TCS, Bartronics and Little World are also in fray to bag a five-year financial inclusion contract from Bank of Maharashtra. The value of this deal is around Rs 120 crore, according to industry experts.