Eko.co.in – The Banker for the Unbanked
Across the capital city, on the outskirts where an eight-lane freeway gives way to narrow, dusty roads, ramshackle mud-and-brick structures are home to a motley mix of carpentry, metal recycling and handicrafts businesses. Multitude of migrant labourers most of whom hail from small towns in the chronically poor state of Bihar in eastern India, slog day in and day out so that they can earn a living and save enough to send money back home to their families.
But there is an impediment. Most of these workers either make too little money to make them probable bank customers or, because of the frequent movements due to nature of their work, do not possess the documents issued by local authorities, which is required to open a bank account.
Mohd. Zubair, a 35 year old employee of BSES Power Supply Company, is one such person. He never imagined that he would be able to open a savings bank account. Also, the hassles of documentation were too much for him, just like most of his peers. It was then that he heard of Eko, a financial service provider, which gave him the opportunity to open a savings account with basically just a mobile phone number and a photo ID proof. Zubair is now a regular user of the service and is saving up to one day make his dreams come true.
Eko is based on the fundamental premise of reducing the cost of secure financial transactions and providing an extremely simple user interface so that access to financial service can be available to people from bottom of the pyramid as well.
Background
Abhishek Sinha started his career with Satyam Computers after graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra in 1999.
Abhinav Sinha graduated from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra in 2003 with a Bachelores of Engineering in Electronics and Communication Engineering. He started his professional career with a stint at Oracle in... [continues]
Across the capital city, on the outskirts where an eight-lane freeway gives way to narrow, dusty roads, ramshackle mud-and-brick structures are home to a motley mix of carpentry, metal recycling and handicrafts businesses. Multitude of migrant labourers most of whom hail from small towns in the chronically poor state of Bihar in eastern India, slog day in and day out so that they can earn a living and save enough to send money back home to their families.
But there is an impediment. Most of these workers either make too little money to make them probable bank customers or, because of the frequent movements due to nature of their work, do not possess the documents issued by local authorities, which is required to open a bank account.
Mohd. Zubair, a 35 year old employee of BSES Power Supply Company, is one such person. He never imagined that he would be able to open a savings bank account. Also, the hassles of documentation were too much for him, just like most of his peers. It was then that he heard of Eko, a financial service provider, which gave him the opportunity to open a savings account with basically just a mobile phone number and a photo ID proof. Zubair is now a regular user of the service and is saving up to one day make his dreams come true.
Eko is based on the fundamental premise of reducing the cost of secure financial transactions and providing an extremely simple user interface so that access to financial service can be available to people from bottom of the pyramid as well.
Background
Abhishek Sinha started his career with Satyam Computers after graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra in 1999.
Abhinav Sinha graduated from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra in 2003 with a Bachelores of Engineering in Electronics and Communication Engineering. He started his professional career with a stint at Oracle in... [continues]
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