Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu flagged off 12 mobile ATMs of the Andhra Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Limited (APCOB) which will dispense cash in remote areas, at Praja Vedika on Monday.
The machines would also help in spreading financial literacy as the people in villages would get to know how to operate them and the basics of banking, he observed.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Naidu said the mobile ATMs were a part of the government’s efforts to take digital banking to the rural areas and that the machines would mitigate the cash crunch still faced at many places.
‘Ryots stand to gain most’
Farmers would particularly benefit from the initiative, he said.
APCOB chairman Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao said no other State had such technology-enabled cooperative banks like Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) and that the mobile ATMs were procured with the assistance of the National Bank for Agricultural Rural Development (NABARD).
Customers could withdraw and also deposit money in the ATMs and that the charges collected for using them would accrue to the exchequer.
APCOBManaging Director A.V. Bhavani Sankar said the bank deployed counsellors to help the customers in doing their transactions and educate them about personal banking.
Ministers K. Kala Venkata Rao, NABARD Chief General Manager K. Suresh Kumar and general manager K.S. Raghupathi and A.P. State Warehousing Corporation chairman L.V.S.R.K. Prasad were among those present.