Co-op bank’s mobile services to empower farmers, ruralfolk
Co-operative banks are getting a leg-up after core banking facilities were introduced in 2012.
Tirunelveli Central Co-Operative Bank
VELLORE: Central Co-operative Banks (CCB) in Tamil Nadu are being upgraded with mobile banking and other digital services which would immensely help rural folk, especially farmers, sources told DT Next. The initiative is said to be part of an ongoing joint venture between the union and state governments.
“All the 23 CCBs in the state are being provided a digital payment system through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) which allows inter-bank peer to peer (P2P) and person to merchant (P2M) transactions through mobile devices,” said an official. “This would ease transfer of funds between two accounts, as the transaction could be completed instantly. This empowers rural folk, especially farmers, to handle accounts and transfer funds immediately through their smart phones without having to reach a nationalised bank,” the source said.
Co-operative banks are getting a leg-up after core banking facilities were introduced in 2012. The upgrade would provide farmers in rural areas all the benefits of operating bank accounts and related services on par with nationalised banks. However, as most farmers are directly linked to Primary Agricultural Co-operative Credit societies (PACCS) in rural areas from where they get seasonal crop loans, efforts are now on to link all the 4,532 Primary Agricultural Cooperative Banks (PACB) in Tamil Nadu through the same method, officials said.
“Once completed the scheme will ensure improved and faster transactions, greater efficiency and reduce malpractices in granting loans and financial transactions” the source told DT Next.
Tamil Nadu is part of centrally sponsored project for computerization of primary agricultural cooperative credit societies (PACCS) which plans to cover 63,000 PACCS across the country in 5 years at an estimated cost of Rs 2516 crore. The TN government will be provided a total of Rs 124.9 crore of which the state’s share will be around Rs 56.02 crore in the first year. The centre’s share of Rs.84.04 crore was received recently.