New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated 75 Digital Banking Units, including two of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, via video-conferencing to the nation on Sunday.

Of the two Digital Banking Units (DBUs) of Jammu and Kashmir Bank one is the SSI branch at Lal Chowk in Srinagar and the other is the Channi Rama branch in Jammu.

According to the function at Lal Chowk here was attended by Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar, who was in the Valley as part of the third phase of the Union Government’s public outreach programme. NC President and Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah attended the occasion.

As part of the Union Budget 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the setting up of the 75 DBUs in as many districts of the country to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence. The DBUs are being set up to ensure that the benefits of digital banking reach every nook and corner of the country.

Eleven banks in the public sector, 12 in the private sector and one Small Finance Bank are participating in the endeavour. DBUs will provide a variety of digital banking facilities to people such as opening a savings account, account balance check, printing passbook, funds transfer, fixed deposit investments, loan applications, application for credit or debit cards, and bill and tax payments, among others.

Out of 12 public sector lenders, 11 opened nearly two-thirds of the total 75 DBUs, while 12 private sector lenders and one small finance bank together opened only one-third. While public sector lenders opened 48 DBUs, the private sector managed to open 27 across various states, as per the data provided by the RBI.

The country’s biggest lender State Bank of India opened a maximum of 12 DBUs followed by the third biggest Bank of Baroda with 8. However, the second biggest state-owned lender Punjab National Bank opened only 4 DBUs.

In the private sector space, leading lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank opened four each, followed by Axis Bank with 3 and Kotak Mahindra Bank with 2 in two districts. Jana Small Finance Bank opened two DBUs one each in Bihar and Jharkhand, as per the RBI Data.