Bank of India Reaches Rural Clients with VSATs

13.11.2009
Banking in rural India has also been ridden with challenges, be it with electronic connectivity or availability of electricity. But Bank of India came up with a unique idea and brought core banking to 1,868 rural branches, despite the multiple challenges.

The Bank of India is one of the first in India to establish fully-computerized branches and ATMs in Mumbai - twenty years ago. But 1,868 of its rural branches were not part of its core banking system, which put its rural clients at a disadvantage.

-- Kalyansundar turned to VSATs to overcome the bank's connectivity problems.

-- They started one of the largest solar-powered initiatives in the country.

"With 70 percent of the country's population living in rural areas and with the kind of economic growth they have seen, it became imperative that they were provided similar types of services. Moreover, with new Government schemes like the New Pension Scheme and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Program, rural customers needed better facilities," says P.A. Kalyanasundar, general manager, Bank of India.