IMGCAP(1)]
India-based Punjab National Bank has launched a mobile-banking service test in Daringibadi, a rural area in the Kandhamal district of the east Indian state of Orissa, a bank spokesperson tells CardLine Global. The test is designed to enable villagers to access banking services with their mobile phones. Customers "can apply for the service at financial [institutions] in the villages with their mobile numbers, and then [customers] will get a no-frills bank account," the spokesperson tells CardLine Global. "[Customers] can access their bank accounts on their mobiles to [check] balances, transfer money and make bill payments using PIN-code authorization." The district has a population of about 650,000, of which 80,000 use banking services, Punjab says.
