Cheque, demand draft pickup from home: PSU banks launch doorstep banking; 5 key things to know

An initiative by PSU banks, the move will facilitate hassle-free and convenient banking.

Now, senior citizens and differently-abled people can access banking services at their doorsteps with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday announcing the launch of doorstep banking as a part of the EASE Reforms to make banking easier and accessible. An initiative by PSU banks, the move will facilitate hassle-free and convenient banking, she said. Via this, customers will be able to demand non financial services such as cheque pick up, etc, and financial services will be available soon.

Here are top five things you need to know about doorstep banking:

• Banks will charge a nominal amount for these services.
• Doorstep Banking Services have been launched keeping customer ease in focus. This will be carried out via the universal touch points of call centre, web portal or mobile app. 
• Customers can also track their service request through these channels.
• The service is currently available for non-financial services such as pick up of negotiable instruments (cheque or demand draft or pay order, etc.), pick up new cheque book requisition slip, request for account statement, delivery of non-personalised cheque book, delivery of pre-paid instrument or gift card and others.
• Financial services will be made available from October 2020.

Doorstep banking was prescribed by Reserve Bank of India a few years ago and the public sector lenders had earlier come together to appoint a common service provider to handle this for all their customers. Stating that banks are playing a crucial role amid the pandemic, FM Sitharaman said, “At this stage, the catalysts for economic revival, the catalysts who have the pulse of every one of their customers, are banks”. She was speaking after the launch of PSB Alliance-Doorstep Banking Services. “Banks need to introspect on their core businesses,” she added. Meanwhile, FM Sitharaman said that India is an example to other countries in the way citizens adopted Jan Dhan, Aadhar and mobile. She also said that banking services must reach those areas where banks have not yet reached.