Business correspondents (BCs) of banks should act as a bridge between banks and the people to enable the flow of banking products to largely unbanked populations, according to P Jayarama Bhat, Managing Director of Karnataka Bank Ltd.
Inaugurating a convention of business correspondents and a workshop for them at Shimoga recently, he spoke about the role played by these agents in the banking industry and the trust they earn from both customers and banks.
He spoke of the role of business correspondents in providing banking services. He stressed on the need for working honestly since they were representatives of the banks.
Under its financial inclusion plan, Karnataka Bank has to provide banking services in 207 village panchayats covering 1,002 villages in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh. Of these 207 village panchayats, 175 are in Karnataka. The bank has already opened branches in 94 village panchayats and placed business correspondents in the remaining 81 village panchayats for providing banking services. The bank has also opened ultra small branches in 42 village panchayats, he said.