India-based Axis Bank has introduced a new eKYC (know your customer) facility for rural banking in the Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh, which uses Aadhar database to open a bank account within 24 hours.
The move by Axis Bank is to provide people with quick access to Government’s Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payments in rural areas, where the bank account opening process normally takes 7-15 days.
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With the launch of the new service, Axis becomes the first lender in India to offer paperless account opening services through MicroATMs, claims the bank.
Axis Bank retail banking president, Rajiv Anand, said all you need to open an account is the Aadhar number and the fingerprints.
"At the back-end, with the help of NPCI, our servers will verify the details with the Aadhar database and the account will be opened," Anand added.
Upon activation of the account, customers can receive DBT payments through Aadhaar Payments Bridge System (APBS) and can withdraw them through Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS).
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By GlobalDataAnand said the eKYC exercise is currently targeted to cover 100,000 eKYC accounts in Adilabad district over the next two months for National Rural Employment Generation Scheme (NREGS) and Pension customers to avail government benefits.
"We shall be covering the remaining districts of Andhra Pradesh followed by rest of the states in a phased manner for Aadhaar eKYC based account opening," Anand added.
