Thiruvananthapuram: As a part of the party’s statewide digital banking literacy mission, the BJP workers in the district have been directed to educate at least one member in each family to do cashless purchase and bill payments using mobile phones. Further, all traders, beginning with those on the stretch from Pappanamcode to Karamana will be taught how to accept payment through mobile phones under the campaign which has been named ‘Digital Trivandrum’. Around 100 BJP councillors and panchayat members attended a training course on Sunday on how to use Buddy, an e-wallet system run by a State Bank of India application.

The lessons taught by bank officials and IT experts will be passed down in wards in the coming days. “The Buddy e-wallet can be topped up using the debit card of any bank. It can be used to transfer money to the wallet of any merchant big or small, just by entering their mobile phone number. The merchant also should have downloaded the free application Buddy. In case there were mistakes in the amount transferred, the merchant can refund the money. A customer can shop for up to Rs10,000 using an e-wallet. A merchant can accept up to Rs 50,000 and the limit might be increased in future,” said Remya Thomas, an official attached to SBIs Alternate Channel Banking department.


The BJP aimed to ensure that 100 per cent literacy in mobile banking was ensured in all five gramapanchayats that it ruled, said BJP District President S Suresh. Further, members of corporation wards ruled by the BJP would also have to educate city dwellers on mobile banking. It would also insist that merchants secure point to point card swiping machines for accepting payment digitally. SBI sources said that before demonetisation they were selling just around 100 Point of Sale (PoS) swiping machine to merchants every month. However during the 10 days after demonetisation, they had got requests from merchants to provide 1000 new swiping machines.