HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Sept 19: People living in remote rural and difficult terrains such as hilly regions in the North East states generally lack access to many things, banking being one of them. Fino Payments Bank plans to expand its banking network in the North East states to bridge the access gap and provide convenient digital banking services.
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Atul Trivedi, senior divisional head (East & North East), Fino Payments Bank, “Branchless banking is the way forward to improve access, especially in rural and difficult terrains. In line with this strategy, we have ventured into West Bengal, Odisha, and NE states where we have our network of around 55000 banking points. In NE, we have a branchless network of close to 12000 points with Assam alone accounting for around 10,500. To reach out to more customers we will penetrate deeper into the interiors across all NE states, especially Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh. We plan to add another 5000 banking points in the NE region by March 2023.”
Sachin Joglekar, zonal head, Fino Payments Bank added, “The presence of our points closer to their homes has allowed the inhabitants of the islands of Sunderbans, of the villages of Bagdah, Jonai, and Sabroom near Bangladesh border touching West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura and at the Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, access and avail convenient digital banking services. Also, close to 20,000 students across NE receive scholarships under the Government’s ‘Pre-Matric and Post-Matric scholarships for students (PFMS)’ scheme directly into their Fino Bhavishya minor savings account.”
Notably, the branchless banking points are the small business owners such as kirana, mobile repair, photocopy, stationery shops, etc., that are present in the neighborhood. Outlets of Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), our strategic partner, also act as Fino banking points. With Micro ATM and Aadhar-enabled payment services (AePS) devices, the shops become local banking points where people can do banking at their convenience without worrying about travel. Additionally, for merchants, it is a good avenue to earn extra income and goodwill from the customers.
