Andhra Pradesh - Nellore   

ATMs at the doorsteps of villagers in Nellore

K. Mrityunjaya Ram

Villagers will have the facility to park their earnings in the ATMs and take rest at their fields bereft of tension and anxiety

NELLORE: Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) may no longer be the exclusive privilege of some individuals of urban and semi-urban areas. It could soon become a reality for villagers with the Syndicate bank sponsored Regional Rural Bank (RRB), Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank planning to set up ATMs in many villages.

This means, villagers will have the facility to park their earnings in the ATMs and take rest at their fields bereft of tension and anxiety, as security aspect has always been predominant in the minds of villagers.

The bank will set up ATMs in select villages in the next financial year with rural customers turning an attractive target for the banking sector. To begin with, it will first place its ATMs at urban and semi-urban areas to create awareness on making the best use of ATM cards among its customers, who are mostly villagers in particular semi-literate and illiterate farmers.

The objective of the project is to offer a financially viable delivery-banking model at the doorsteps of rural customers, who could access ATMs for all their simple banking needs including deposits and withdrawals, Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank Chairman M. Obulesu told The Hindu on Thursday.

Prior to fanning out into villages with ATMs, the RRB will initially set up kiosks at select branches to furnish information pertaining to agriculture, banking and other related activities to its customers, he said. The bank headquartered at Kadapa was formed after merger of three Syndicate Bank sponsored RRBs -- Rayalaseema Grameena Bank, Sree Anantha Grameena Bank and Pinakani Grameena Bank.

5 districts covered

The amalgamated entity has an operational area covering five districts Anantpur, Kadapa, Kurnool, Prakasam and Nellore with a network of 332 branches and total business of Rs. 3,886 crores. The bank officials are hoping that the move will benefit villagers as nearly 60 per cent of rural households in the State lack access to deposit accounts and 80 per cent of them to borrowing facility from the organised financial sector.

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ATMs at the doorsteps of villagers in Nellore

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