In India financial inclusion is a very huge challenge. The present government has undertaken a massive exercise thru Prime Ministers JanDhanYojana to make financial inclusion a reality. More than 10 crore accounts have been opened in the last few months and 75% of them have been issued Rupay debit cards with insurance and health cover thrown in as goodies.
Despite this, more than 50 % of India’s adult’s population does not have any form of banking accounts and more than half the accounts opened have no balances and no transactions. Changing this scenario is essential if any meaningful social equality is to be achieved.
Besides not having basic accounts, most of the underprivileged use alternate means for borrowing at high interest rates or from friends and relatives for critical expenditures.
The other problem is that more males than females use any form of formal banking.
One of the ways to correct the problem is to use technology innovation to support.
The main challenges are:-
• Customer On-boarding.
• Fulfilment of transactions
The widespread use of mobiles and connectivity across more than 4.5 lac villages in India, the rapid fall in tablet prices, the adoption of cloud based computing makes a case to use these innovations to deepen the reach. The huge base of AADHAR registrations is the single most differentiator that can fulfil the needs of customer identification and know your customer (KYC) norms to ensure a smooth onboarding of customer to open basic accounts. And fulfil anti money laundering regulations.
Doorstep Banking or Tablet Banking is the terms used for enabling this initiative. The solution comprises of a Tablet (Microsoft or Android) with a GSM card, coupled with a Hand held terminal which supports card reading, printing of receipts and fingerprint authentication.The solution back end server can be deployed with workflow and document management and the devices are connected thru a GSM mobile.
Authentication and customer information is provided by the UIDA through NPCI or NSDL once the institution becomes aauthorised UIDAI user. This obviates the need for providing other documents which are difficult to obtain in the Indian scenario. The solution also can do an electronic kyc by taking photographs with the tablet and uploading it to back office in cases where Aadhar details are unavailable. This allows the use of agents (Banking Correspondents) who visit the residence or common meeting areas to on-board customers almost in real time.
A solution at the backend like Fincraft-CBS (Core Banking System) allows the fulfilment of backend formalities for the institution for opening accounts and other details.
Presently transactions are done only thru cards and a small portion is done through mobile banking.
Use of FinCraft-Doorstep Banking Solution allows transaction in terms of cash receipts, cash payments, balance enquiry and statement of account can be completed using fingerprint authentication. The confidence of fulfillment is provided by issuing an online receipt to the customer.
These and similar solution will effectively enhance financial inclusion and enhance customer experience. Coupled with Direct benefit transfer and business correspondents doing transactions at your doorstep the costs can be dramatically reduced and coverage increased rapidly.