The State Bank of India (SBI) has recently announced that it has entered a partnership with payment service provider, Oxigen Services Private Limited, to offer kiosk-based banking services opening connections directly to SBI’s Core Banking System from existing, internet-ready Oxigen retail locations. The partnership, in conjunction with the SBI business correspondent Sahyog Microfinance Foundation, will use existing Oxigen retailers as customer service points (CSPs) of Sahyog to carry out banking transactions on behalf of the national bank. Sahyog branches, in turn, already function as CPSs of SBI.
Mr Pramod Saxena, Managing Director and Chairman at Oxigen, states “This kiosk-based banking model will provide the necessary ease and comfort to customers in all parts of India with inherent benefits like flexi timings and reach through current Oxigen footprint of over 20,000 web enabled retailers. This [development] of retail banking services is much needed for financial inclusion of the un-banked population in both rural and urban India. There is also room for including our PoS (Point of Sale terminals) retailers in the future.”
The new service will enable users to open accounts with minimal documentation, offering biometric readers that will record users’ fingerprints for banking transactions which can include cash deposits, withdrawals and money transfers to other SBI accounts.
By Matthew Fox, Research Assistant
Sources and Additional Resources
BusinessWireIndia: Press Release: SBI Ties Up with Oxigen to Promote Kiosk Banking, 29 July 2010: http://www.businesswireindia.com/PressRelease.asp?b2mid=23407
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