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Quite a lot of people across the country are struggling to withdraw money and exchange Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes from banks after the demonetization, but this one village in <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword> is handling the situation in a hassle-free manner – all thanks to digitization. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/10-Latest-developments-in-the-demonetization-matter-to-look-out-for/articleshow/55413152.cms">ALSO READ: 10 Latest developments in the demonetization matter to look out for</a> 
 
Going cashless is not a big deal for Akodara, India’s first digital village where 220 families have e-banking facility. And residents use it for buying milk and vegetables to bread and eggs. Their phones are linked to their bank accounts and they make instant transactions using the village WiFi smoothly. 
 Located about 90 km from Ahmedabad, in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat, the village has a population of 1,200 and was adopted by <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI bank</keyword> recently as a part of Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s <keyword id="1929810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital-India">Digital India</keyword> campaign. 
 
The village grocer is accepting payments through<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/This-Indian-Professor-tells-us-exactly-how-the-demonetization-will-fail-to-curb-black-money-/articleshow/55412703.cms"> e-banking</a> for any sale above Rs. 10 which is brilliant. The local dairy cooperative has also stopped paying farmers in cash since the last year and transfers directly to their bank accounts, making the process much easier. 
 
The villagers have their accounts linked to their Aadhar cards,so government benefits are also transferred directly into their savings accounts. 
 
Now, only if our cities had been converted just as easily, before this announcement was made.

Learn demonetization from Akodara, India’s first digital village

When I was told about the ‘ICICI <keyword id="50691" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital">Digital</keyword> Village’ at <keyword id="3896834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="akodara">Akodara</keyword> in <keyword id="48360" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sabarkantha">Sabarkantha</keyword> district of <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>, I was skeptical, because of two reasons: one, How is a ‘digital village’ possible with the lack of infrastructure? and two, when the cities are still cash economies with structured formal sectors, how can a single village be the exception? 
 
My answers were answered on a quick day trip to the village where we actually saw cashless transactions take place smoothly, similar to how things take place in the city. 
 The village was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> in January 2015 to commemorate <keyword id="233016" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-Group">ICICI Group</keyword>’s 60 years in India. 
This was done to enable villagers to use technology in various aspects of life including banking, payments, education, among others. 
 
Here, Wi-Fi connectivity is available across the village where transactions as low as Rs. 10 take place on phone through SMS and the Internet. The wifi tower stands tall in the middle of the village. 
 
The objective for this was simple; to show that technology can be used to eliminate barriers that separate rural and urban India. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ICICI-Bank-to-transform-100-villages-into-Digital-Villages-in-100-days/articleshow/55666437.cms">ALSO READ: ICICI Bank to transform 100 villages into ‘Digital Villages’ in 100 days</a> 
 
So how was it done? 
 First, every adult villager was encouraged to open a <keyword id="6355272" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bank">bank</keyword> account to enable savings and a cashless habit. 
The Bank uses tab banking to open savings bank account which allows customers to open accounts without submitting physical documents. The accounts are being serviced by a dedicated branch and an ATM which did not have a queue when we visited it! 
 
Various cashless transactions are facilitated through Debit Cards, SMS Banking, Online Banking, Cashless Payment Processing and other modes. 
 
The villagers' accounts are also being linked to Aadhar to enable direct transfer of government benefits into savings accounts. 
 
How is it enabled? 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/MobiKwik-launches-a-light-lite-app-to-integrate-all-Indians/articleshow/55662642.cms">The cashless economy needed end-to-end payment solution </a>leveraging Rupay cards and SMS banking at the village shops, at the market for the sale of agri-produce and at the cooperative society for sale of milk. All of that was done with the help of the local government in association with the bank. 
 From enabling farmers to access the latest information on prices of agricultural commodities on <keyword id="35258" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="NCDEX">NCDEX</keyword> to establishing a water treatment plant to provide clean water to the villagers, all the resources were matched in level to the digital offering to create overall development. 
 
The result? 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/EXCLUSIVE-Mobikwik-is-willing-to-partner-with-e-wallets-like-Paytm/articleshow/55667167.cms">All earning adults carry minimum cash, get daily payments in their bank accounts</a> and pay instantly for any service. 
What technology has done here is magnificent, if only the same model could’ve been implemented everywhere in the country overnight, to ease the pains of what this unplanned demonetization move has caused, particularly in the rural areas.

India is struggling with the effects of
demonetization while this Digital Village is blooming

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/India-effects-of-demonetization-this-Digital-Village-at-Akodara-is-blooming/articleshow/55668226.cms">I recently visited India's first digital village and while it is the perfect model for a cashless society</a>, it is also a lesson in digital adoption. 
It bunks the myth that you need to live in a city to live a digitized lifestyle. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ICICI-Bank-to-transform-100-villages-into-Digital-Villages-in-100-days/articleshow/55666437.cms">ALSO READ: ICICI Bank to transform 100 villages into ‘Digital Villages’ in 100 days</a> 
 <keyword id="3896834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="akodara">Akodara</keyword>, <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword> is not just famous for enabling <keyword id="322793" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cashless">cashless</keyword> transactions but also for how villagers use technology to make their everyday life easier. 
 
Let's show you how it was made possible.

I visited the cashless Gujarat village- Akodara that everyone’s
talking about, and here’s my takeaway

ICICI Group dedicated 100 Digital Villages to the nation as a way to empower rural India. Arun Jaitely, Union Minister of Finance, Defence &amp; Corporate Affairs inaugurated the event for the announcement. The programme involves end-to-end digitization of transactions and other commercial activities, providing vocational training to villagers, extending credit facility and helping the villagers to access markets and earn a sustainable livelihood. 

 

 

 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58460368" title="Exclusive: Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, Paytm talks about representing India at the TIME 100 Gala" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="May 01, 2017, 5:07 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div> <keyword id="45875" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chanda-Kochhar">Chanda Kochhar</keyword>, MD &amp; CEO, <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI Bank</keyword> told Business Insider, “We have created a less cash ecosystem at these villages, provided vocational training to over 11,300 villagers including more than 7500 women and offered them credit linkages in the past 100 days. We have also disbursed INR 14 crore worth of loans in this time frame to these villages in 17 Indian states. This has enabled 70-80% of the villagers to become independent.” Ms. Kochhar also announced the expansion of the initiative to another 500 villages, “We intend to expand the number of such villages by another 500 by December 2017. In that process, we will train another 50,000 people and affect 12.5 lives.” 

 

 

 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="55668912" title="I visited the cashless Gujarat village- Akodara that everyone’stalking about, and here’s my takeaway" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="Nov 29, 2016, 9:58 AM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>










 How does a ‘Digital Village’ work The villagers here can use digital channels for banking and payments transactions. They can also open a bank account using Aadhaar-based e-KYC, making cashless payments at retail stores using Point-of-sale (POS) machines, and use an SMS based mobile solution. Villagers can also deposit and withdraw cash at their doorstep. The bank has provided an SMS-based mobile service which facilitates the villagers to transfer funds, receive SMS alerts &amp; mini-statements to know their account balance. It is available in 10 regional languages- Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil and Telegu. Besides that, over 206 POS and micro-ATMs have been installed across these villages. 

 

 

 

 

 <div type="embedgroup"> <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="58422071" title="Exclusive- Kris Gopalakrishnan, Infosys Founder and ex-CII President says that the Real Innovation Success in India will Come in the Next 30 Years" rank="1.0" kind="RELATED" publishDate="Apr 28, 2017, 9:52 PM" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div></div>










 The digitization at the village dairy co-operative units enables the societies to pay the members digitally and directly into their bank accounts. The villages are present in 17 states; 16 in <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>, 145 in Maharashtra &amp; <keyword id="6355554" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Madhya-Pradesh">Madhya Pradesh</keyword>, 12 each in <keyword id="4484062" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tamil-nadu-karnataka">Tamil Nadu &amp; Karnataka</keyword> and 11 in Rajasthan among others.

Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank Announces Plans to Digitize 500 Villages While Dedicating 100 Villages to the Nation

Can you imagine turning one Indian village digital every day? <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI Bank</keyword> claims it will do it. 
 ICICI <keyword id="6355272" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bank">Bank</keyword>, today announced that it will transform 100 villages into Digital Villages through a number of measures. 
 
These villages will enable villagers to use digital channels for banking and payments transactions. There, villagers will be able to open bank accounts using Aadhar-based e-KYC and make cashless payments to retail stores through a unique SMS/USSD-based mobile solution. 
 Additionally, ICICI Bank in association with <keyword id="339601" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-Foundation">ICICI Foundation</keyword> will impart vocational training to nearly 10,000 underprivileged villagers, especially women, to help them earn a sustainable livelihood. The bank will also extend credit facilities to the trained villagers in a bid to boost self-employment opportunities in the villages. 
 This ambitious move is inspired by the success of India’s first digital village, created by ICICI Bank at <keyword id="3896834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="akodara">Akodara</keyword> in <keyword id="48360" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sabarkantha">Sabarkantha</keyword> district of Gujarat. Ms. <keyword id="45875" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chanda-Kochhar">Chanda Kochhar</keyword>, MD &amp; CEO, ICICI Bank said , “We strongly feel that technology can play an important role in putting development on a fast lane.” 
 
The bank will create a cashless ecosystem at these villages, provide vocational training to 10,000 villagers in first 100 days and offer them credit linkages so that the villagers can start their own business ventures. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/MobiKwik-launches-a-light-lite-app-to-integrate-all-Indians/articleshow/55662642.cms">ALSO READ: MobiKwik launches a 'lite' app for seamless transactions, even on basic connection</a> 
 
ICICI Bank will use <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/EXCLUSIVE-Inside-Paytm-the-first-24-hours-after-demonetization/articleshow/55581182.cms">tablet-based banking and Aadhar-based e-KYC </a>to help villagers open accounts in few hours without submitting physical documents. All adults in the villages will have saving accounts, which will be linked to <keyword id="155319" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Aadhar">Aadhar</keyword> to enable direct transfer of government benefits into these accounts. There will be dedicated branch and ATM of ICICI Bank to service these accounts. 
 
The bank will provide a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Is-your-credit-card-a-debt-sentence/articleshow/55617326.cms">unique SMS &amp; USSD based mobile service</a> which will facilitate the villagers to transfer funds, receive alerts &amp; statements and make payments to retail stores by using their mobile phones. This SMS banking will be available in regional languages and will function on basic mobile phones. The Bank will also set up end-to-end merchant infrastructure that will enable the retailers at the village to accept mobile based payments. 
 
The bank will also create a cashless, digital payment ecosystem for the predominant commercial activity of these villages and set up Point-of-Sale (POS) machines at seed and fertilizer outlets for cashless transactions using Rupay cards. 
 All this is being done in the wake of <keyword id="6362150" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonetization">demonetization</keyword> when the country's villages are suffering the most. As someone who saw how Akodara's citizens were reaping benefits from the digitization, this move is not only lauded but necessary right now.

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Learn demonetization from Akodara, India’s first digital village

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Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank Announces Plans to Digitize 500 Villages While Dedicating 100 Villages to the Nation

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ICICI Bank to transform 100 villages into ‘Digital Villages’ in 100 days

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