NXP Semiconductors and A Little World, providers of the ZERO mobile platform for inclusive banking, have rolled out the next generation of technology enabled solutions which will enhance a micro bank to be set up in every village in India. The pilot project has been deployed by 7 major banks in over 450 villages across four states in India.

The initial pilot project has brought full featured banking services to over 45,000 rural Indian citizens right inside their villages, through Customer Service Points equipped with new generation NFC enabled mobile phones, contactless RFID smart cards and integrated biometrics.

NFC technology is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables consumers to securely exchange and store all kinds of information, simply by bringing two devices close together. Evolving from a combination of contactless identification and networking technologies, NFC enables short-range communication between an RFID card and an NFC mobile phone, or between two NFC devices.

According to Anurag Gupta, CEO of A Little World, "We are pleased to partner with NXP who have supported us closely in developing a futuristic solution in a very tight timeframe. The ZERO platform based on a slew of new technologies is now the benchmark solution that many others are looking to emulate. We have carried out pilot projects with State Bank of India in villages located in some of the most inaccessible and difficult terrains of the country such as Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and remote villages in Andhra Pradesh."