HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank, announced the inauguration of 60 Business Correspondent (BC) Banking Outlets across RBI notified unbanked rural centers (URCs) pan-India. These new outlets now increase HDFC Banks URC network presence to 5,020 outlets. Notably, 34% of the Banks BC Agent network now caters to providing formal financial products and services across 10,602 villages.
Speaking on the development, Ms. Smita Bhagat, Group Head, Retail Branch Banking-North, East & Central, ABCP Retail FX, HDFC Bank said, “HDFC Bank is deeply committed to financial inclusion even in the remotest corner of the country. We are happy that a significant portion, nearly 34% of our BC network, operates within RBI notified unbanked rural centers (URCs). We aim to empower these communities and contribute to the governments financial inclusion agenda by providing crucial financial solutions like AePS transactions, deposit services, government-backed insurance, and access to credit facilities."
The initiative was undertaken in collaboration with CSC eGov. It will help deliver essential banking services to the last mile, directly through physical centres of village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs) acting as micro-entrepreneurs and in turn empowering communities in underserved regions.