Finance minister Sitharaman encourages regional rural banks to onboard customers to digital services by December

NEW DELHI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, encouraged regional rural banks (RRBs) to bring rural customers onto digital platforms for services such as internet banking, mobile banking and UPI.
While addressing a review meeting with eight RRBs from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal held in Patna, on Friday, she highlighted the importance of digital inclusion.
In the meeting, Sitharaman emphasized the need for RRBs to prioritize the enrollment of customers for digital services, with a target to complete this by December 2024. She further urged the banks to encourage their customers to embrace digital banking, with support from their sponsor banks.
“RRBs to prioritize onboarding customers to digital services like Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, and UPI. RRBs should promote digital adoption with the help of sponsor banks to enhance usage,” she said.
The FM also reviewed the business performance, digital advancements, and new credit offerings from RRBs, with an emphasis on fostering inclusive growth. She stressed the need to boost credit flow, particularly to sectors linked to agriculture and micro and small industries, to support business expansion.
Sitharaman further emphasized on the need to enhance women’s credit flow in a bid to help self help groups and suggested that the state governments and NABARD should work hand in hand to help SHGs evolve into enterprise.
She highlighted the potential of the one district one product (ODOP) initiative to enhance self-employment opportunities in the region and instructed financial institutions to offer training and marketing assistance to SHGs.
She also emphasized the importance of technology upgrades to enhance efficiency and service delivery within RRBs. Recognizing the improvements in the financial health of these banks, she noted that the consolidated CRAR had risen from 7.8 per cent in FY22 to 9.4 per cent in FY24, while Gross NPAs had decreased from 25 per cent in FY22 to 15 per cent in FY24.
“RRBs in Eastern Region have posted consolidated profit of Rs 625 crore during FY 2024 against net loss of Rs. 690 crore in FY 2023,” Sitharaman said.