(Bloomberg) -- India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the rollout of 75 digital banking units, or DBUs, as the federal government seeks to bolster financial inclusion in the country of almost 1.4 billion people.
“People living in small towns and villages will find benefits like transferring money to availing loans,” Modi said Sunday in an online to mark the launch of this new format of banking hubs in 75 Indian districts. “Digital Banking Units are another big step” toward making banking services more accessible to citizens, he said.
These DBUs -- first announced in February -- will be brick-and-mortar units and help Indian citizens in availing basic banking facilities such as opening bank accounts, applying for loans, transferring funds and paying taxes online, according to a government statement Sunday.
ICICI Bank Ltd. and HDFC Bank Ltd., two of India's largest private-sector lenders, announced setting up of four DBUs each in smaller Indian towns, according to separate statements from the banks. While ICICI has set up the DBUs at Dehradun, Karur, Kohima and Puducherry, HDFC is opening these at Haridwar, Chandigarh, Faridabad and South 24 Parganas.
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