Easier to adopt biometric payment systems in rural areas: IDFC Bank
TNN|
Mar 02, 2018, 12.03 PM IST
Panaji
: Individuals in rural areas are more likely to adopt biometric-enabled payment systems as, in rural India, apprehensions about submitting and transacting using the thumbprint are fewer in comparison to urban areas, head of personal banking at IDFC Bank Amit Kumar said on Thursday.
“Adoption is better and easier with Aadhaar because earlier they were used to giving their thumbprint. Now, instead of paper, they are putting it on a device,” said Kumar. “Then again, the whole challenge of the debit card and a pin was much more difficult for them to handle.”
The bank, which came into existence in October 2015, has most of its customers in rural areas, and acquires around 10,000 customers every month.
Kumar was speaking while announcing the launch of the bank’s first branch in Goa. He explained that villagers find it difficult to remember the debit card PIN and would end up writing the PIN on a paper.
IDFC bank uses micro-ATM devices to create bank accounts and collect KYC data. “Our customer base is largely rural and all these customers have been opened only through this route,” Kumar said.
He did agree that there were several apprehensions about the security of Aadhaar data, but said that banks were taking steps to prevent biometric and personal data from being compromised.
“Banks are going through a learning process. We have built our Aadhaar system in a way that there is absolutely no way that it can be compromised. I think the regulator has also become very vigilant. Processes and controls have become very stringent in the last couple of months. Biometrics is safe because it is not being stored on the device. If it was being stored then there was a chance of misuse,” Kumar said.
The bank says that customers can open a bank account in four minutes and can operate the bank from any branch in India.
“Adoption is better and easier with Aadhaar because earlier they were used to giving their thumbprint. Now, instead of paper, they are putting it on a device,” said Kumar. “Then again, the whole challenge of the debit card and a pin was much more difficult for them to handle.”
The bank, which came into existence in October 2015, has most of its customers in rural areas, and acquires around 10,000 customers every month.
Kumar was speaking while announcing the launch of the bank’s first branch in Goa. He explained that villagers find it difficult to remember the debit card PIN and would end up writing the PIN on a paper.
IDFC bank uses micro-ATM devices to create bank accounts and collect KYC data. “Our customer base is largely rural and all these customers have been opened only through this route,” Kumar said.
He did agree that there were several apprehensions about the security of Aadhaar data, but said that banks were taking steps to prevent biometric and personal data from being compromised.
“Banks are going through a learning process. We have built our Aadhaar system in a way that there is absolutely no way that it can be compromised. I think the regulator has also become very vigilant. Processes and controls have become very stringent in the last couple of months. Biometrics is safe because it is not being stored on the device. If it was being stored then there was a chance of misuse,” Kumar said.
The bank says that customers can open a bank account in four minutes and can operate the bank from any branch in India.
(This article was originally published in The Times of India)
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