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A motley crowd was bustling at the seams outside the public sector Indian Bank in the upscale Gomti Nagar area of Lucknow Sunday morning.
Shunning the idiot box in the cozy confines of their houses, the people, while braving a supple sunshine, were eagerly watching Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a makeshift giant screen while he dedicated 75 Digital Banking Units (DBU) across the country via video conference.
With this initiative, Uttar Pradesh and other states were ushered into an era of an accelerated digital banking template. Among the 75 DBUs, four are located in UP viz. Lucknow, Kanpur Dehat, Varanasi and Jhansi districts, and will be facilitated by different public sector commercial banks.
The Lucknow DBU is hosted by Indian Bank in the upmarket Vijay Khand block of Gomti Nagar in the state capital.
The brick-and-mortar DBU will provide an array of digital banking services including opening of savings bank account, balance check, passbook printing, funds transfer, term deposits, loan applications, stop-payment instructions, credit/debit card applications, payment of taxes/bills etc.
A college student, Abhishek Singh, said the DBU, which would operate on a 24x7x365 basis, would provide a seamless banking experience without the trappings of time and day constraints. Similarly, Seema, a housewife, sounded enthusiastic about the novel concept in her vicinity.
Meanwhile, Indian Bank executive director Imran Amin Siddiqui said the Bank had deployed the best of the staff members to offer any assistance to the people availing of the DBU services.
The Lucknow DBU inauguration ceremony was also attended by UP deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak and UP minister of state for finance Pankaj Choudhary.
“Indian Bank has been investing liberally in upgrading the digital banking operations. DBU will further this objective and go a long way in achieving the digital banking vision of the PM,” he added.
Siddiqui further claimed that the DBU template would also immensely supplement the Yogi Adityanath government’s goals in the social and socioeconomic sectors, including One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme.
In his virtual address, Modi said DBUs would provide maximum services through minimum digital infrastructure.
In Union Budget 2022-23, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the setting up of 75 DBUs in 75 districts to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence.
The DBU are being set up to ensure that the benefits of digital banking reach the remotest of the places. About 11 public sector banks, 12 private banks and a small finance bank are participating in the DBU model.
There will be “adequate” digital mechanisms to offer real time assistance and redress customer grievances arising from business and services offered by the DBUs directly or through Business Facilitators/ Correspondents.
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