PMJDY Overdraft process should be fully digitised. No Paperwork please

The detailed guidelines on the overdraft process for PMJDY accounts has been hosted on the PMJDY website.

The players involved in the overdraft process are the Bankers, account holders and government functionaries.

As this is the first time that such a massive overdraft program without any collateral is being rolled out, the process is completely through Paper applications.

There is much scepticism  in the social media that this would be a failure and there would be huge defaults by the PMJDY account holders.

In my belief, we Indians especially the marginalised class are trustworthy and the defaults would be minimum.

Adequate safeguards have been built in the process to ensure that the account holder can be tracked in the banking sector.

 The overdraft facility is available only to Aadhaar number holders. NPCI has built a repository wherein the PMJDY account and the Aadhaar number is linked. Once an overdraft is granted in an account, appropriate flagging is done in NPCI database.

This flagging in the database ensures that no multiple overdrafts are allowed in the same PMJDY account.

A process review after 3 months would be great. The whole process should be digitised, with out the need for paper forms.

Below is the proposed process flow:

01) Any PMJDY account with credits from DBT/DBTL Scheme/scholarship/verifiable sources should be eligible for the overdraft facility.

1. The overdraft facility tobe a) 4 times of the average monthly balance b) INR5000/- whichever is lower.
2. PMJDY holders can approach any branch of the bank where the account is held. No need to approach the base branch only.
3. The OD request to be attested through Aadhaar finger-print verification. No need to fill in any forms or provide any income certificate.
4. The respective bank branch officials to validate the request digitally only. No paperwork is envisaged.
5. Once the bank branch officials authorises the transaction in the CBS (Core Banking System), the overdraft facility to be enabled.
6. System to generate alerts in case there are no credits for 30 days.

PMJDY Overdraft – Preference to women borrowers

            PMJDY accounts are an important tool in our country’s Safe ePayments journey. PMJDY accounts encourage the account holders to move from cash based transactions to electronic based transactions.

            One of smart features of PMJDY accounts is the Overdraft of INR 5000/- for accounts with good behaviour.

            The cooing period for accounts to be eligible for Overdraft facility is 6 months. This means that the first set of accounts will eligible after March 2015.

            In the near future, more clarity is expected on the calculation mode for 6 months i.e A) 6 months from date of account opening or B) 6 months from the date of the first transaction.

The second option is preferred, as this will encourage the PMJDY Account Holders to execute quality transactions in their accounts.

            In an informal chat with presspersons at a PMJDY mega camp organised by Corporation Bank at Vamanjoor village in Mangalore taluk on November 22, 2014, Snehlata Shrivastava, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Union Ministry of Finance,  said that the overdraft of ₹5,000 will be given to head of the family, preferably women, under the scheme.

This is because women have the habit of saving and prudent in their spending, she said.

Link 1, Link 2

Indian Cooperative Banks to join the PMJDY cluster

            Buoyed by the success of PMJDY, a number of cooperative banks have sought clarification from Reserve Bank of India, as to whether the cooperative banks can open PMJDY Accounts.

            Dr.Alok Pande Director in Department of Financial Services, has issued a circular stating the minimum requirements cooperative banks should have to open PMJDY Accounts.

            As per the circular, Cooperative Banks (Urban/Rural) which are on CBS (Core Banking Solution) and are having arrangement with NPCI for issuance of RuPay Debit Cards are eligible to open accounts under PMJDY.

            This is one more step towards 100% banking coverage to all Indian households by 26^th January, 2015.   

As on date 200+ cooperative and gramin banks can issue RuPay Debit Cards. The banks are spread over all over India.  

In one of the biggest initiatives towards institution capacity building, NABARD is facilitating the process of bringing the Co-operative Sector onto Core Banking Solution (CBS) platform.

A total of 201 State and Central Co-operative Banks with 6,940 branches from 16 states & 03 UTs of the country, viz. Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP, Chhattisgarh, MP, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar have joined “NABARD initiated Project for CBS in Co-operatives”.

Two vendors, viz. TCS and Wipro, are implementing the ambitious project across the country.

Of the 201 banks with 6 ,940 branches under NABARD Project, 200 banks and 6,939 branches are fully on CBS as on 31st August 2014. This includes 114 new branches which were directly opened on CBS platform.

PMJDY RuPay Cards – The delivery race has begun

            As per reports appearing in the media, over the last couple of weeks, 1.5crs – 4 crs  banks accounts have been opened under PMJDY scheme in all bank branches in India.

            As the Accidental Insurance of INR 1lac is dependent on usage of RuPay Cards, the account holders are eagerly waiting to receive the RuPay card in their hands.

            The stupendous success of PMJDY in a short time has raised the delivery bar for NPCI as well as the respective Banks.

            To shorten the TAT for delivery of PMJDY RuPay Cards and to ensure that quality of RuPay Cards /  Holograms is maintained throughout the program, NPCI has announced a common RFQ (Request for Quote) covering the major 7 aspects of PMJDY program.

            The chief objective of this common RFP is to enable individual banks to place orders with the chosen vendors by avoiding the tendering process.

            Through this common RFQ, NPCI shall select all such empanelled vendors for supplying Personalised RuPay Debit Cards under uniform card design as prescribed under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY)

It is expected that over 50 million RuPay cards would need to be provided by Banks to the first time account holders under the program. Yes, at present the exact number of required cards is an unknown factor.

This poses unique challenges to the vendors, as they have to bid only on minimal data.  

            

PMJDY - Overdraft of INR 5000. 5 reasons for success

    

The contours of Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) Overdraft of INR 5000/- will be unveiled in the next couple of weeks.

As per the present thinking, the OD can be availed by account holders who have seeded their Aadhaar Number in the Banks account database and have satisfactory operations for 6 months.

Similar guidelines as applicable instant credit of outstation cheques may apply to OD requests too.

The guidelines for quantifying satisfactory operations are not laid down in black and white, but based on banker’s experience.

The following points are considered while assessing a customer account for satisfactory operations: -

a)    No cheque bounce

b)   No decline of eTransaction due to financial reasons

c)    Average balance

d)   Credits in the account at regular intervals.

There are many apprehensions that the due to OD facility a large number of accounts will slip into NPA mode and banking industry will face huge losses.

            Assuming out of the 7.5crs accounts, 20% (1,50,00,000) of accounts will be eligible to avail OD facility, funds to the tune of INR 7,500 crores would be required.

5 reasons why the NPA level will be LOW in the OD Accounts

01)  The accounts have already cleared the first step of credit appraisal i.e the satisfactory operations test.

02)Inflow of subsidy credits at regular intervals.

03)Inflow of other Government payouts

04)The Indian Jugaad ability to ensure credits and debits are always equal

05)The poor are always trustworthy, Yes, the poor always trustworthy

PMJDY – The INR 1 Lac Insurance Program

            As on date, the following is the information available on the Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) –  INR 1 Lac Insurance Program: -

01) The insurance coverage of INR 1 lac is for accidental death or permanent disablement for eligible RuPay Debit card holders.  

02)The RuPay card issuing agency is National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

03)NPCI has entered into an agreement with HDFC ERGO general insurance company (HDFC Ergo) to provide an insurance program to all RuPay card holders.RuPay Card Insurance Program

04)The same agreement would continue to RuPay card holders under the PMJDY program too.

05)The insurance cover is for cardholders between 18-65 years of age

06)Eligible RuPay Debit cards holders means who have performed at least one financial or non-financial transaction  at any one channel i.e ATM/MicroATM/POS/eCom in the last 45 days prior to the incident. For eg for accident occurred on September 1, 2014, transaction by RuPay card must have been done or after July 15,2014

07)Negotiations are on with HDFC ERGO General Insurance to increase the 45 day limit to 90 days.

08)The approved claim payment will be done through NEFT to the card holder beneficiary along with a covering letter. 

Participate in India’s Bank Account (PMJDY) Challenge - Target 5,00,000

             Today, on the auspicious launch of Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana PMJDY, 1.5 crores +  Bank accounts were opened

Major functions were held at 76 locations all over India, with a host of minor functions contributing their bit to the account pool.

            No doubt, the major responsibility to open the bank accounts under PMJDY would be bank officers.

            However, we other countrymen too have a social responsibility in this grand Financial Inclusion plan.

            You might be wondering as to how you can participate in this noble program.

            It is very simple:-

Just encourage one of your fellow countrymen(women), who is not holding a Bank account, to open a Bank account under PMJDY.

            The process flow is as under: -

01) Identify an acquaintance who is not having a bank account

02)Inform him/her of this scheme

03)Accompany him/her to the nearest bank branch and assist him/her in the account opening process

04)Once the account is opened, take a selfie along with the new account holder and post it on this Facebook page.

05)Challenge 3 of your friends to do the same. The challenge can be announced in your social media network

06)In case, your friends are unwilling to accept the challenge, ask them to contribute INR 101 to Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) online.

 Users can donate to the fund by using the net banking facility. Details such as name, address, city, country, email id, mobile number, amount details, etc. are required to initiate the donation process. PMNRF accepts voluntary contributions from individuals, organisations, trusts, companies, institutions, etc.

I will contribute INR501 to PMNRF for the first selfie. Contributions of INR 101 will be made for the next 99 selfies.

Can we target 5,00,000 accounts by 02/10/2014?

DISCLAIMER: The above is my personal view and my employers may not agree with my views.