BWI: Sahaj – Airtel Money Tie-up: Fulfilling India’s Financial Inclusion Dream

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Sahaj e-Village Limited
Thursday, October 03, 2013 06:27 PM IST (12:57 PM GMT)
Editors: General: People; Business: Banking & financial services, Business services, Financial Analyst, Information technology; Technology
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Sahaj - Airtel Money Tie-up: Fulfilling India's Financial Inclusion Dream


Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, Thursday, October 03, 2013 -- (Business Wire India) -- Sahaj eVillage Limited, a Srei Venture Initiative has entered into an arrangement with Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel to extend banking facility to citizens in three districts of Uttar Pradesh - Varanasi, Jaunpur and Gorakhpur through the ubiquitous mobile platform.

Sahaj's tie up with Airtel Money aims to offer basic banking services to the villagers, the most financially excluded populations in India. The alliance will ensure the opening of no-frills savings account for rural customers through Airtel Money Super Account powered by Axis Bank, which will offer customers at the Sahaj Jan Seva Kendra in Uttar Pradesh, banking transactions including cash deposit, money transfer and cash withdrawal, paving way for convenient, safe and secure platform to the villagers. The account shall also earn savings account interest @4%, which shall help the villagers make remittances.

The partnership will leverage the company's wide network of CSC and entrepreneurs to empower rural citizens of India with standard financial products and services and hence enhance their livelihood and quality of life.

Besides, the platform creates a wallet for the villagers and money can be easily transferred from one Airtel Money Wallet to another. The wallet can be used across the country and make all kinds of payments. Non-airtel customer too can receive money on their mobiles and get it converted into cash through an existing Airtel Money Axis Bank customer service point in the state, or through one of these Sahaj Jan Seva Kendras.

Commenting on the tie up, Mr. Srinivasa Rao - CEO, Airtel, UP & Bihar said, "Through this alliance, Airtel and Sahaj hope to bring banking facilities at an arm's length to all our customers of Uttar Pradesh East. This is a small first step aimed at improving the financial independence of unbanked masses in the region."

It is worth a mention here that Sahaj, being pro-financial inclusion, already has over 550 business correspondents in Uttar Pradesh in arrangement with various banks. Speaking about this latest & convenient mode of inclusion introduced through Sahaj, Mr. Umesh Rao, President, Sales & Marketing, Sahaj e-Village Ltd. said "Inclusion through the mobile mode is the future, considering the fact that mobile connectivity has made inroads into the deepest pockets of Rural India. This is a giant step by Sahaj in taking the benefits of financial inclusion through m-commerce to the large population of rural citizens in Uttar Pradesh we serve through our huge network of over 8,000 centers. This is yet another step at bridging the gap between rural & urban markets."

About Sahaj e-Village Limited

Sahaj e-Village Limited, a Srei Venture Initiative, is a business integrator in the field of IT infrastructure with a focus on rural India. It has over 99 offices across 6 states and has emerged as one of the largest implementers of ICT-based projects in India. It has taken up the task of eliminating the undemocratic digital divide between rural and urban India, under the National e-Governance Plan, the Flagship Program of the Government of India in Rural India. It brings government, business, and services to the rural India through an expanding network of Village Level Franchisee Partners. Sahaj is set to launch over 28,000 Common Service Centres (CSC) across 107 districts in the six states of Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. More than 24,500 CSCs have already been established, providing a single-window, one stop solution to the citizen's needs, under the Private-Public- Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

About Airtel M Commerce Services Limited

Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL) is a fully owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited. AMSL's flagship product is semi-closed wallet - launched under the brand name 'Airtel Money'. Semi-closed wallet is a prepaid payment instruments that is redeemable at a group of clearly-identified merchant locations/ establishments, which contract specifically with the issuer (AMSL is the issuer in this case) to accept the payment instrument. These instruments do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption by the customer.



CONTACT DETAILS
Upasna Singh, Business Development, Sahaj e-Village Limited, +91 8303211888, upasna.singh@sahaj.co.in

KEYWORDS
PEOPLE, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, Financial Analyst, IT, TECHNOLOGY

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