Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launches voice, visual and vernacular banking app

By Leandra Monteiro

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank launched Hello Ujjivan, one of India’s first mobile banking applications with voice, visual, and vernacular-enabled features to provide banking access to individuals who have limited reading and writing skills. The app is designed to instill banking habits in rural customers who are digitally challenged.

Hello Ujjivan, co-created with Navana.AI, is accessible by voice in eight regional languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Oriya, and Assamese. Customers can speak to the app in their native language to perform banking transactions and access services such as paying loan EMIs, opening FD and RD accounts, transferring funds, checking account balance, and updating passbooks, among others.

The app’s intuitive AI and machine learning capabilities enable it to comprehend customers’ unstructured banking requests and provide the desired result. The application engine adapts to the various dialects of the user and has the capacity to learn and respond to their particular dialect. The app also provides a visual representation, along with a recorded voice guide in the user’s preferred language at every step.

Speaking on the launch, B A Prabhakar, Chairman of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, said, “The launch of the mobile app represents a significant advancement in our efforts to provide our MicroBanking and Rural customers with the advanced technology and the high level of convenience and security. We are confident that we will be able to empower our customers, towards meeting their banking needs. This application also demonstrates our dedication to promoting financial literacy and independence across all social strata.”

In its initial phase, Hello Ujjivan will be available to its existing MicroBanking customers. In the subsequent phase, the company will continue to add more languages and banking features and solutions, such as opening new customer accounts, paying utility bills, availing repeat loans, mobile and DTH recharge.