ICICI Bank, the country's largest private sector lender, aims to cover 100 unbanked villages across the country through its mobile van banking service.
Through its mobile branch called 'Branch on Wheels', the private sector bank has reached out to unbanked villages in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. The bank on Wednesday rolled out its 'Branch on Wheels' initiative in Odisha where nine unbanked villages will be covered.
“Inthe first lot, ICICI we aim to cover 80-100 unbanked villages for which 15-20 mobile vans will be deployed. Then, we will take feedback from the customers. Prior to Odisha, we have launched the 'Branch onWheels' in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. We want to extend this initiative to 2-3 more states in the next six months depending on theresponse we get from the state administration,” said Rajiv Sabharwal, executive director, ICICI Bank.
The 'Branch on Wheels' will reach out to four unbanked villages in Ganjam district- Gandala, Palasi, Dobadi and Sahapur. It will also cover five villages- Lankakhuda, Kopsinga, Rupidihi, Kirei and Kandabahal- in Sundargarh district.
“Financial inclusion is a key focus area for Odisha and I am very happy to seeICICI Bank partner with the state government to play a strong role inthis area. This unique initiative of 'Branch on Wheels' will go along way to provide basic banking services to the remote unbanked villages in the state,” chief minister Naveen Patnaik said afterlaunching the initiative.
Commentingon the launch of the service, Sabharwal said: “ICICI as a group hasalways taken a holistic approach to provide financial services inrural and remote areas. In line with this approach, we have already launched 440 branches across the country to provide basic banking services in villages which are devoid of banking facilities. Today’s launch of ‘Branch on Wheels' is yet another step of the bank to expand its reach to the unbanked villages.”
The 'Branch on Wheels' is a mobile branch equipped with an ATM. It offersa wide range of banking products and services such as savingsaccounts, loans, cash deposit and withdrawal, account balance enquiries, statement printing and funds transfer.
It is also equipped with a GPS tracking system, laptops with 3G connection, LED TV, a printer, public announcement system, a note counting cum authenticating machine that identifies fake currency notes and an UV lamp that detects forged cheques.
Underits commitment for financial inclusion, ICICI Bank has opened twomillion accounts in over 2,000 villages in Odisha to facilitatepension and MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) payments.
Thebank is also looking to open 40 new branches in the state. Presently, it has a network of 81 branches and 206 ATMs.
