The third largest private sector lender of the country, Axis Bank and telecom operator, IDEA Cellular have entered into an agreement to carry forward the bank's financial inclusion initiatives. The two entities have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) wherein IDEA has agreed to act as business correspondent (BC) for Axis Bank.

The united efforts will be initiated by way of a 'remittance pilot' between Dharavi in suburban Mumbai and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh where mobile money transfer facility will be introduced.

Apart from remittance, the two entities are also keen on extending the partnership to other products and services too like savings, credit, micro insurance, micro SIP and micro pensions in due course of time.

Axis Bank's President, Agri Business & Rural Banking , S K Mitra, said "as a total solutions bank, we are always exploring options to deliver improved and convenient services to customers across all strata of society. We have already undertaken urban and rural financial inclusion initiatives in parts of India on a POS platform through our business orrespondents. We were keen to adopt additional delivery channels to drive financial inclusion and were particularly keen on a mobile-based channel, considering the reach and the low-cost service delivery platform."

"Since only 41 per cent of the adult population has bank accounts, whereas more than 70 per cent of adults own a mobile connection, associating with a telecom service provider looked to be the apt choice," he said.