Indus Valley Times

Mumbai,Nov 25 : In its bid to provide a valid proof of identity and bring all at the last mile into the formal financial fold, PayNearby, India’s largest branchless banking and digital network, has registered 75,000+ semi-urban and rural retail counters in the country as PAN issuance agents. These retail counters include kirana stores, mobile recharge stores, medical shops and travel agents. With the launch of this service, customers can go to the nearby store and get their PAN cards easily with the help of just their Aadhaar number and biometric or SMS OTP-based authentication. Within the last 5 months, the company has successfully issued more than 1 lakh PAN cards.

Of the 1.3 billion population, there are only 43.52 crore PAN card holders (as of 2019) in the country. This presents a huge gap that needs to be filled for India to truly walk the inclusion path. The generation of 1.1 lakh-plus PAN ids is encouraging as it ratifies the need for these services at nearby retail outlets in Bharat. PayNearby’s goal has been to simplify technology for consumption at the last mile and ensure that there is a democratisation of financial and digital services. Riding on its fast and secure, tech-backed DaaS (Distribution as a Service) network, its micro-entrepreneurs are assisting locals create their financial identities through easy PAN card issuance in a quick, hassle-free, seamless and paperless mode. Once the application form is submitted, a digital copy of the e-PAN is generated in just two hours.

Commenting on the occasion, Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby, said, “At PayNearby, we have been continuously working on innovation-led partnership models to offer financial solutions to all in Bharat. With more than 1.1 lakh PAN cards issued, we feel elated that the nation-building initiative that we undertook to provide every citizen of the country with a formal identity is finally afoot. The easy availability of PAN card services at a local retail shop has accelerated the uptake of this unique identification. Today, from daily wage earners to low-income farmers, all can get their PAN cards created at their nearest stores. We are committed to making financial services and products available for everyone, everywhere. We will continue to expand the bouquet of services accessible at our retail stores so that each and every citizen in the country has access to all services as their urban counterparts, and the gap between India and Bharat is bridged forever. PayNearby, Zidd Aage Badhne Ki!”

With simple documentation and assisted journeys, the company is gradually addressing all inhibitions that prohibit the large-scale adoption of financial solutions and pushing the masses towards true financial empowerment. This will work towards rural upliftment and will go a long way in providing a formal identity to the people in the underserved and unserved regions of the country which were previously unaccounted for. Slowly but surely, it will bring the underbanked and unbanked segments into the formal financial fold, with better access to products and services that improve their quality of life and livelihood.