ICICI Bank Ltd.

As part of its financial inclusion plan which aims at providing banking services in unbanked villages, ICICI Bank, India’s largest private sector bank has opened 101 rural branches across six states. These branches were formally inaugurated in 19 districts across the states of Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

These ‘Gramin’ branches have been opened in small villages which were so far devoid of any banking facility and will now offer all the basic banking services such as savings bank account, fixed and recurring deposit, remittances, Kisan Credit Card, credit cards and tractor loans. ICICI Bank as of November had 413 such rural branches across the country and with the addition of over 100 branches it has crossed 501 branches mark.

The bank has also opened close to 2 million no frill savings accounts this year taking the total number to around 12 million no frills accounts, which is a key part of financial inclusion strategy.

The bank aims to continue its financial inclusion agenda in the years to come and intends to expand financial inclusion of farmers from approximately 3.5 lakh last year to 35 lakh by FY 2017.