Legacy-led India Post & Rural Banking Undergo a Digital Transformation

The story of a modern-day, digitally enabled India is the story of the country’s belief in technology running the last mile to pull in the deepest corners of the nation, breaking down the inertia of legacy systems, and blurring the lines between rural and urban India. The central piece of this story is the digital transformation of two crucial public services– rural banking and postal services.

Banking on technology

Traditional Indian banking culture can be best described as one of “going to the bank to update my passbook”, or where rural wage laborers and day earners simply hold their daily cash with no way to deposit it into a centralized, electronic system. But digital technology has transformed the way banking is done in India. The challenge now lies in reaching the benefits of this transformation to people in remote and inaccessible parts of the country through innovative solutions.

The complex Indian banking structure has many layers, especially the ones servicing the hinterland where the last mile connectivity is a challenge, even in places that have a brick-and-mortar physical branch presence. These hurdles come to the fore when computers go without intra or internet links for hours, security systems need upgrades, or any number of such issues.

But now the world’s largest digital financial inclusion program is changing all of this and making a meaningful difference to the lives of those yet untouched by the digital banking revolution.

In Manapadu, a village in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a group of women gather around Ranjani, some with cash in hand and others with empty and outstretched palms. Ranjani is a local entrepreneur who bridges the last mile between the bank branch and this village with its population of just 2,800. She delivers the cash when the villagers need it and collects deposits from those who have some money to spare.

The ‘bank’ Ranjani carries with her is a simple laptop or point-of-sale (PoS) device, with which she carries out the authentication against the villagers’ Aadhar/debit card before the cash changes hands. (The Aadhaar card is a government-verified identity document linked to the citizen’s Jan Dhan account – a bank account used to facilitate government benefits, subsidies, small savings programs, and so on.)

The branchless banking platform, ‘a pocket mobile bank’, can function on multiple devices – from POS machines to cellphones -- and is releasing India’s rural and underprivileged folk from the invisible folds of an unorganized economy. With 300 million Jan Dhan accounts having opened through this technology-infused financial inclusion program, as many Indian citizens are now “counted in” and their productivity accounted for. That’s not all. The digital banking platform sees 10 million daily transactions from rural locations with 125,000 touch points enabled through TCS’ digital financial inclusion network, proving that technology is that one great last-mile leveler.

Snail mail hops onto the digital fast track

Similar to the reimagination of rural banking is the digital transformation of one of India’s largest public services – India Post. Postal mail is an essential service, a carrier of vital communication and financial services to some of India’s most inaccessible and off-the-grid corners. The story of the digital transformation of the post office network sees technology pull together 155,000 post offices into a cohesive inter-linked system that operates on a single platform. This instance of a public service overhaul puts the world’s 10 largest and most complex postal network as its hero front and center – a hero who ran the last mile using technology, delivering over 740 million premium mails in the FY19-20 financial year alone.

As part of the India Post digital solution, mobile POS devices placed in the hands of postal delivery workers mean that if a rural resident can’t get to a post office, the post office will go to them. It is also important to remember that the Indian postal service provides not just snail mail, but financial services as well. The technology platform has enabled payroll and pension disbursement for over 860,000 people within one year.

Furthermore, in this post office transformation story, the use of the all-encompassing digitalized platform allows for centralized and omni-channel customer interactions – via the web, a cellphone, or, as mentioned earlier, a POS device in the hands of the door-to-door postal worker. The platform furthers social inclusion through 24x7 call-center services in 12 Indian languages, as well as a bi-lingual portal that offers consignment tracking. Did we also mention that India Post has given online retail a boost in India’s interiors? There have been 2.7 billion retail and about 35 million money transfer transactions carried out in one year — all bolstered by this technological reimagination.

This is what a strong growth and transformation partner ensures. No one stays invisible and nothing gets left behind. Digital technology empowers all.

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We deliver excellence and create value for customers and communities.

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Find the latest news about TCS in our Newsroom

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TCS works hand in hand with world-leading investors.

Last Mile: Digital Financial Inclusion

TCS is here to make a difference through technology.

We deliver excellence and create value for customers and communities.

Extraordinary expertise leads to remarkable results.

Want to be a global change-maker? Join our team.

Find the latest news about TCS in our Newsroom

Recent Press releases

Recent News

Recent recognitions

Upcoming events

TCS works hand in hand with world-leading investors.

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