ICICI Bank Ltd.

ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, and the Panchayati Raj Department, Government of Odisha, have signed an agreement to start mobile based disbursement of wages to workers under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) in Odisha. ICICI Bank has tied up with Mobile Commerce Solutions (MCSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone India, to provide this service. ICICI Bank and MCSL will implement pilot project in two blocks in Odisha namely Hinjilicut and Chikiti in Ganjam district.

Under this arrangement, Vodafone SIM cards will be issued to the job holders under MGNREGA. ICICI Bank will open accounts for these beneficiaries after required KYC checks and the individual mobile numbers will act as the savings account number. This will allow the beneficiaries to directly receive their wages on their mobile. The customers will also receive alerts via SMS and will be able to easily withdraw cash from any nearby designated retail outlet by simply authorizing the transactions on their mobile.

The customers will also earn savings bank interest for the funds remaining in the accounts. They can also carry out deposits and remittances directly with their mobiles. Under this programme, ICICI Bank jointly with MCSL shall impart necessary knowledge and skill to the wage seekers to enable them to use the mobile phone to make transactions and read transaction alerts.

ICICI Bank is India's largest private sector bank and the second largest bank in the country, with consolidated total assets of $122 billion at December 31, 2012. The Bank’s presence currently spans 19 countries, including India.