siliconindia | | November 20169is possibly not known by the customers. There is a need for providing hand-holding to the customers in the use of mobile phones for banking services starting with very simple service like Balance Enquiry through a missed call or making a call to the call centre to get information on some financial product.In the area of card payment system, though 1.4 million Point of Sale (PoS) terminals is not adequate for a large country like India, the number should be good enough at least from carded customers in the metro cities to transact with debit/credit cards. But, the volume of PoS transactions in the country is only four million a day which works out just four transactions per terminal per day. One of the reasons cited for such volume of PoS transactions may be that many customers are still not aware of the benefits of PoS transaction compared to transacting by cash. There is misplaced fear in the mind of the senior citizen customers that the card and the PIN may get compromised. Newspapers report every now and then regarding card frauds without any explanatory notes, leaving the customers with more questions than answers on using the cards at locations outside the banks' premises. Therefore, use of card on ATMs provides more comfort than using the same on a PoS machine. The fact that card payment system can also be safe and secure with some precautions taken by the customer needs to be explained with details.For remittance and bill payments, India has developed excellent infrastructure of NEFT and IMPS system. Bank customers having access to internet channel can easily do the remittance online. Remittance can also be done through mobile and ATM channel. But it is observed that during the first week of the month, a large number of people queue up in front of the branches for sending remittances. Queues before the Post Offices and Business Correspondent agents are also long. This could partly be a function of the awareness level on the part of the customers about the permissible and available channels for remittance delivery.It would however be appropriate to mention that banks have set up more than 1,000 financial literacy centres during the past few years, and the number is growing. The financial literacy centres act as the focal point for organizing literacy camps and counselling of customers in their respective jurisdiction. Education materials in local language are prepared and made available to customers. Joint publicity campaigns are being organized through Indian Banks' Association (IBA). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NABARD has also started educating the customers on the facilities available and precautions they need to take. But for a large country like India, steps required are much larger. Efforts required are both in supply and demand sides of Financial Inclusion. The financial literacy centres act as the focal point for organizing literacy camps and counselling of customers in their respective jurisdiction
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