A sleepy colony at the inflection point of Ghaziabad, Noida and Delhi, Khora village is one of the many unauthorised areas of the National Capital Region. With just two hours of electricity through the day, the five lakh inhabitants, largely migrants from Bihar and UP, armed with a voter ID card, seem to be at ease with life.

But it?s the brimming enthusiasm and the scale of ambition of 25-year-old Shyam Sunder that is creating flutters in the locality. Sunder is part of a banking revolution that is sweeping the country. Following the RBI?s directive of financial inclusion, several banks have created business correspondents, who are making banking available to the unbanked and under-banked population of the country.

Sunder is an employee of Eko, the business correspondent of the State Bank of India. He sources customers, gets them an SBI account and also enables deposits, withdrawals and remittances for the bank. Eko started the project on February 23, 2009, at Uttam Nagar in Delhi and has over 470 outlets across Delhi, four districts of Bihar and one district of Jharkhand, with 60,000 plus customers transacting upwards of Rs 15 lakh everyday in over 1,600 transactions, amounting to over 2,00,000 transactions, with the total value transacted exceeding Rs 14 crore so far.

?It?s my dream that when SBI Eko will have an all-India presence, Noida will have a green colour and will be called Eko City,? says Sunder. He, along with Dharampal Chauhan, business partner of Eko, is nurturing this dream and has already opened 6,000 accounts in Khora colony since January this year.

Abhishek Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Eko, is now actively scouting for investors, as Eko?s current grant from CGAP Technology Programme, co-funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is almost exhausted. A unique model, Eko works with a simple mobile phone in which the mobile number becomes the bank account number of the customer. Sinha explains that every branch transaction costs SBI about Rs 68 vis-?-vis Rs 10 for an Eko transaction. Transactions happen through SBI-Eko branded outlets, where a customer can walk in and get an SBI bank account. These outlets also serve as ATM points where customers can carry out deposits and withdrawals. The cellphone in the hands of customers and the retailer acts as debit card and POS device, respectively. The customer?s experience at an Eko counter is very similar to a telco customer getting a SIM card and doing talk-time recharge.

Sinha adds that no application is installed on the handset and no special SIM card is needed for transactions. ?We use USSD technology on GSM and missed calls on CDMA. Basic 2G GSM/CDMA network coverage is sufficient. All transactions are secured with a patent-filed, one-time-use numeric signature,? he says. These no-frills saving accounts are called SBI mini-bachat khaata, which gives the account holder 3.5% interest per annum. All accounts are linked with the SBI link branch in a 30-km radius, and are on the Eko and SBI platform.

To enable the services, Eko appoints a business partner or super CSP, who works in close coordination with an Eko representative and together they build a team of CSPs (customer service points). In Khora village, the Eko sales team conducted inspections and selected Dharampal Chauhan as its business partner or super CSP. Chauhan had an Airtel distributorship from 2002, along with distributorship of FMCG brands Parle, Dabur and Himani. His market reputation and creditworthiness were an add-on for Eko. He recalls, ?When Eko representatives came to meet me, they were accompanied by Airtel staff. Since it had SBI backing the project, I was sure that it would be good model to be associated with.?

Today, Chauhan maintains and overlooks operations and drives expansion through CSPs and his two FSOs (field street officers). ?First I choose the CSPs, then the Eko team conducts an interview, screens them and then we collectively finalise.?

In his daily operations and selection of CSPs, Chauhan is assisted by Eko?s regional officer, Shyam Sunder. Together, they narrow down on CSPs. ?A good counter with a good reputation.? A thorough check is also done keeping in mind the nature of interaction of the shopkeeper with customers, his main business, full KYC requirements, valid proofs, bank statements for creditworthiness, pan card, reputation in the locale, etc.

Sunder recalls, ?After selecting the super CSP, we started narrowing down CSPs. We went to the market, started talking to the shopkeepers, and did our audits. All CSPs should have a current account. After verification, we issue them a licence. After the selection, the CSPs are given training.? It took 25 days to train and launch the first batch of 26 CSPs. ?With the first batch we opened 4,000 accounts. As trust grew, our deposits and withdrawals grew and with more CSPs, money transfers came in the purview.?

And it is these transfer transactions that are actively driving the business model of Eko. For every transfer, Eko gets 1-3%, depending on the transaction. For an intra-city, phone-to-phone transaction, the person who is making the transfer is charged 1% of the amount. For an inter-state transaction, 3% is charged till Rs 1,660. Above Rs 1,660, there is a flat charge of Rs 50. Since January 1 this year, Eko has had remittances of over Rs 26 lakh across over 1,500 transactions.

Sinha says, ?The key regulatory development for us has been that business correspondents can now enable money transfers for non-account holders; both the remitter as well as the beneficiary. This further helps in lowering the barrier for adoption and use. We will now be conducting communication and awareness campaigns accordingly.?

On their part, Eko is targeting the biggest remittance corridor in India of Delhi, Bihar UP and Maharashtra. ?We have extensively gone through the census reports, narrowed on the migrant and high mobile-penetrated areas. We will go to UP next, followed by Maharashtra, while expanding our existing network in Delhi and Bihar.? Also, if there is a migrant from Bihar living on rent in Khora without a permanent Delhi address, a CSP can introduce the person to the bank, as also any SBI account holder, which will enable him to open an account.

At his end, a super CSP maintains a balance of Rs 80,000 and a CSP of Rs 10,000-15,000 on a daily basis to conduct operations. So what does a CSP make in the deal? For every new account, a CSP gets Rs 30 and a super CSP gets Rs 25. And, for every transaction, a CSP gets 0.3% and a super CSP makes 0.1%.

?Is dhandey ke bahut faide hain,? says 27-year-old CSP Nitin Kumar Setia, who has witnessed a 30% surge in his mobile accessories and recharge business since January 2010. He says people would not come to a new store in the name of Eko, but as he has been present in the area for long, people trust him and this leads to more accounts opening.

So, is there competition, given that there are other counters opening in the vicinity? Setia sums up, ?Jahaan customer ko better service mil rahi hai, wahan wo jaa raha hai. Yeh to acchi baat hai?