The banker for every mobile user

The State Bank of India's SBI mission is to be the banker to every Indian and its partnership with Eko, a third-party financial service provider, is helping it to achieve that goal.

Those who are earning less than $2 per day look beyond branch-based banking, said Anupam Varghese, vice-president of technology at Eko, at last week's card and mobile technology Cartes in Asia exhibition. Using the vendor's mobile technology platform, SBI has offered mini-savings accounts and various financial services to low-income Indians since February 2008.

To sign-up for a mini-savings account all someone needs is a basic mobile phone. Consumers need only to visit a customer service point, usually a convenience store, and...