Canara Bank is now offering its services through Akshaya centers in Kerala as part of its effort to extend banking services to rural areas. CMD of the bank R.K. Dubey said the project will enable the bank to offer its services at a point nearest to the customer. The Akshaya centers will act as hubs for financial activity and deepen the financial inclusion process, he added stating once the Akshaya centre-based facilities become viable, they can also be converted into full-fledged branches, he said.
The bank had undertaken the project on the basis of a directive by the finance ministry that every ‘sub-service area’ of 1500 households has to be covered by a banking channel. In Kerala, 1480 such sub-service areas have been identified for coverage, of which the bank will cover 138. Initially, using the Aadhaar-based facility, customers can open accounts, withdraw or deposit up to Rs 2000, remit/transfer funds for credit of account with the bank. All transactions will be done online and with biometric authentication of the account holder without any additional charge.
The bank has rolled out the facility in partnership with CSC e-Governance Services India and the Akshaya Project. Akshaya centres are ideal locations for starting banking services, Akshaya Mission director P Balakiran said, explaining that there are two factors in banking – trust and service and both are in-built in Akshaya centres.
