RBI taking up pilot project for end-to-end digitalisation of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) lending to simplify rural finance

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday announced taking up a pilot project for end-to-end digitalisation of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) lending, developed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH). The decision has been taken to eliminate the challenges associated with rural finance in India.

According to a press release, the pilot project will lead to automation of various processes within banks and integration of their systems with the service providers. This, in turn, will make the process more efficient, convenient and affordable.

Furthermore, the digitalisation of the KCC lending process will reduce the Turn Around Time (TAT) from loan application to disbursement significantly. Currently the TAT ranges from two to four weeks.


The pilot will begin in September 2022 in selected districts of Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with Union Bank of India and Federal Bank, respectively, as partner banks and with active cooperation of the respective State governments.

Based on the learnings from the pilot, it is planned to expand the digitalisation of KCC lending to other districts in these two States and gradually across the country. Considering the challenges associated with rural finance in India, digitalisation of various aspects of rural finance is an important objective of RBI’s Fintech initiatives.

“This pilot project on digitalisation of KCC lending is expected to play a pivotal role in facilitating credit flow to the unserved and underserved rural population by making the credit process faster and more efficient. When fully implemented, this has the potential to transform the rural credit delivery system of the country,” the RBI release stated.