Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB), the fourth largest private sector bank, on Tuesday announced the launch of its mobile app Kotak Bharat in Kannada, which can accessed without an internet connection.

KMB is probably the first Indian bank to enable funds transfer without internet connectivity and without adding beneficiary, through this app. This encourages cashless transactions by enabling customers to transfer up to Rs. 2,500 per day and at a time.

"Mobile is undoubtedly the most powerful medium to reach out to India's Kona Kona, including the unbanked and under-banked regions," said Shanti Ekambaram, President – Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Kotak Bharat will allow customers to manage their savings and current accounts as well as credit cards. It is currently available in Hindi, English, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil and Kannada.

"The process of funds transfer is simple and totally secure as the transaction can only be initiated from customer's registered mobile number. Further, customer will get a confirmation SMS on the registered mobile number, which is encrypted, and hence cannot be tampered," KMB said in a statement.

Kotak Bharat is designed for customers with no internet connectivity. It works on the existing SMS banking keyword process platform. All customers holding bank accounts and/or credit cards, and using Android phones, including affordable handsets with version 2.2.3 onwards, can download the app on their registered mobile number without any separate registration process.

"At Kotak Mahindra Bank, we follow a simple philosophy of providing digital innovations to meet consumer needs. Kotak Bharat is an extension of this philosophy, where a multi-lingual app-based solution can be accessed by customers for meeting their banking requirements without the internet," Ekambaram added.

Customers can manage their bank accounts and also use the app for a range of services including recharging mobile and DTH services, linking Aadhaar number to the bank account, finding Kotak ATMs & branches, applying for Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (life insurance) / Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (accident insurance) schemes, etc.

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