Mahagram Partners with IndusInd Bank to Nurture Digital Payments in Rural India

Mahagram has signed a partnership with the IndusInd Bank, a new-generation Indian bank to digitize the country’s payment ecosystem and provide a wider horizon to transact especially for its customers in rural India. Mahagram since its inception has been contributing to the Digital India programme of the Government of India which was launched with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. “Faceless, Paperless, Cashless” is one of the professed roles of Digital India.

The partnership between the two aims to boost financial inclusion, encourage socio-economic development, mitigate the risks of a shadow economy, and accelerate the growth of a cashless society.  This association will also ensure the building of an efficient, reliable, and secure payment ecosystem, which will not only promote and encourage the use of e-payments methods but will also help merchants across the country to accept digital payments easily, making it more accessible for everyone.

Commenting on this partnership, Mr. Ram Shriram, CEO, Mahagram said “In the internet era, developing a digital payment ecosystem is a very crucial step for us because it not only contributes to the economic growth but also ensures easy transactions for our customers through the use of their mobile phones, making it a much safer, simpler, and more convenient way to pay. Our target will be to add 15 million small merchants to the UPI QR in this fiscal year. Going forward, our vision is to expand into other sectors, as we work to advance the full payment ecosystem and achieve financial inclusion in India.”

Mahagram is a technology-driven fintech company that has enabled banking from the mom-and-pop store around the corner through fintech solutions. The company’s mission is to enable rural women to save money at the local Kirana stores, instead of traveling miles to the nearest bank branch. Recently, Mahagram has launched a citizen service delivery portal called “GramSevak.com” to provide basic doorstep banking & e-governance services to all the citizens residing in rural & urban parts of India.

Mr. Manish Modi, Country Head - Corporate Banking, IndusInd Bank Ltd. said, “At IndusInd Bank, it has been our endeavour to play a significant role in promoting the adoption of digital transactions in the country particularly in the rural sector which is one of the core focus areas of the Bank. We believe, digital payments will bring more transparency to the sector and further empower the merchants. The work that Mahagram has done in India over the last few years has made a notable impact on the country’s financial service sector and driven greater levels of financial inclusion. We are very much looking forward to working with Mahagram to advance India’s digital transformation, beginning with the rural sector.”

The Digital India campaign, launched in 2015, saw various sectors including retail, manufacturing, finance, hospitality, and others, adapt to the rising speed of technology. Traditional small businesses and MSMEs steadily moved their infrastructure to digital, and have since experienced efficiency and ease of doing business. But still, in rural areas, people walk miles to visit the bank and deposit their hard-earned money, and ATMs are not always easily accessible. People are yet to trust digital payments, and this is where fintechs play a strong role.