Delivering Financial Inclusion Services to Rural Citizens through the ...

Delivering Financial Inclusion Services Through the Common Service CentersoooooWithdrawal of moneyMaking depositsEnsuring savingsGetting loans and creditsInvesting in other financial plansThis requires that citizens are sensitized and educated about the benefits of banking andhow they can avail of other financial services like loans and credits.Further, since the amount of financial transactions that citizens undertake at the CSP,directly impacts the BC and CSP’s income (they are paid a commission based on eachfinancial transaction), it is important to increase number of financial transactions thatoccur at a CSP to ensure sustainable income.The fact that needs to be accepted is that currently in rural areas, citizens do not havesufficient avenues for regular inflow and outflow of funds to make banking necessary.Thus, it is important to identify streams of earnings for rural citizens that will requirethem to avail of banking services.One way to encourage banking activity by rural citizens is to link the disbursement ofvarious Government Schemes wages and benefits to citizens via bank accounts at CSCs.Schemes to be considered include:o NREGS wage disbursemento Government pension paymento Scholarship paymento Aadhaar incentive payment for BPL citizensFurther, enabling such processes also has the benefit of transparent, timely and efficientdisbursal of Government funds.5. Key Success Criteriao To ensure successful delivery of financial services via CSCs, the following criteria must bemet:o Internet Connectivity: The kiosk banking model of BC-SP can only work whenthe CSCs have reliable internet connectivity. Thus, the government and banksshould collaborate to ensure that the CSCs have reliable connectivity.o VLE Training & Motivation: It is important to ensure that the VLEs undergotraining in delivering financial services to rural customers, at regular intervals.Training should include technical aspects of kiosk banking as well as for sellingfinancial products. Further, VLEs need to be constantly motivated to proactivelybuild awareness within their community (including local government officials)about the financial services they offer.o Linkages with Government Schemes: Government and banks need to worktogether to ensure regular cash flow via banks in rural areas by linkingGovernment Scheme wage and benefit disbursement through banking servicesat CSCs.10