Financial inclusion: Fintech company PayNearby on Monday announced its tie-up with Grameen Foundation for Social Impact (GFSI), a non-profit to uplift underserved communities, to upskill 1.5 lakh business correspondents (BC) in rural areas. The BCs will provide digital and financial services beyond cash-in/cash-out to the underserved and tech-shy last-mile population, PayNearby said.
The collaboration will launch a two-year pan-India project ‘Scaling Agent Viability and Quality in India’ supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to also enlist 15,000 women BCs through the required skills, knowledge and support.
According to the company, the Grameen Foundation will benefit from PayNearby’s Distribution-as-a-Service network (DaaS) to help BCs offer tailored digital and financial solutions across various domains such as commerce, education, entertainment, credit management, insurance, and more. “BCs will be made aware of the financial advantage of a diversified product portfolio, and how more loyalty and value per customer can be derived through that.”
Anand Kumar Bajaj, Founder, MD & CEO, PayNearby, said, “In the dynamic landscape of Bharat, achieving mass transformation necessitates mass mobilisation, and the formidable BC network is ideally positioned to embrace this challenge. BCs have been playing a crucial role in bridging the financial and digital gap at the last mile. We are extremely honoured to work with the Grameen Foundation for Social Impact to upskill the BC network and make them viable multi-service counters, beyond cash-in/cash-out services.
PayNearby operates on a B2B2C model, where it partners with neighbourhood retail stores and enables them with the tools to provide digital and financial services to local communities. At present, the company has a network of more than 50 lakh micro-entrepreneurs across India.
Arindam Dasgupta, Director – Innovations In Digital Finance, Grameen Foundation for Social Impact, said, “The collaboration is underpinned by a shared commitment to enhance women’s capacity to shape and thrive in a more connected business environment, demonstrating the benefits of inclusive development, women’s economic empowerment, and fostering participation from all key stakeholders.”
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The foundation specialises in designing and implementing innovative programs to help the poor access finance, livelihood opportunities, and health and nutrition information.