SBI launches country’s first kiosk bank at Rajkot village

“This initiative is the first of its kind in the country and is considered a revolution in the Indian banking history. Kiosk banking has brought banking facilities at the doorstep of families living in the remotest of villages. It is critical for achieving 100 per cent financial inclusion in its true spirit,” the release said.

The pilot launch was done by SBI Chairman O P Bhatt at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit,2009 earlier this year.

It was subsequently showcased at Haripura village in Surat,the release said,adding that now the commercial test has been launched simultaneously at 19 other centres in Gujarat.

The concept has been conceived and executed by E- Gram Vishwagram Society,Government of Gujarat,Department of Information Technology,Government of India,3i Infotech Ltd and State Bank of India.

The release added:“Kiosk banking rides on e-Gram. It would not have been possible to operationalise the same in the absence of the excellent infrastructure developed by the state government by way of availability of broadband at the remotest of the villages in Gujarat.”

The scheme envisages a rollout of about 3,000 kiosks within the year,which can be up scaled to 6,000. With this,everyone in three village panchayats would be covered through kiosk banking.

The roll out initially wishes to open no frill savings bank accounts through a biometric finger print recognition system. Other services like CD accounts,R D accounts,term deposit accounts and overdraft account will be rolled out shortly.

The platform will become available for NREGP and other government related payments over a period of time.

The bank is also examining the possibility of converting kiosk banking into fully- owned franchises by the village youths.