FM Sitharaman calls for banks to take part in govt welfare projects

Currently only non-financial services such as pick up of negotiable instruments,15G and 15H forms, and delivery of non-personalised cheque book, demand draft, pay order etc are available through doorstep banking.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launching PSB Alliance Doorstep Banking Services on Monday. (Source: Twitter @nsitharaman)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Wednesday launched doorstep banking services for state-owned banks to improve access to various financial services. As part of the EASE (Enhanced Access & Service Excellence) Reforms, banks will provide services to the customers at their door step through touch points of call centre, web portal or mobile app.

Currently only non-financial services such as pick up of negotiable instruments,15G and 15H forms, and delivery of non-personalised cheque book, demand draft, pay order etc are available through doorstep banking. Financial services shall be made available from October 2020, the government said in a statement.

“At this stage, the catalysts for economic revival, the catalysts who have the pulse of every one of their customers, are banks… You don’t forget your core activity, which is lending and making money out of it and that is a legitimate activity. You will do that and also being public sector, do some things which are welfare related as announced by the government,” she said, as per a PTI report.

PSBs performance improved over four quarters since the launch of EASE 2.0 Reforms Agenda, with the average EASE index score improving from 49.2 to 67.4 out of 100, the Finance Ministry said. EASE Index captures performance in areas of customer responsiveness, responsible banking, governance and HR, PSBs as Udyamimitra for MSMEs, financial inclusion and credit off-take. Bank of Baroda, SBI, and Oriental Bank of Commerce (now merged with Punjab National Bank) were the three top performing banks as per the EASE 2.0 Index Results.

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Nirmala Sitharaman

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