Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given after it.
When the small town of Rampur got its first bank branch in the 1970s, opening an account meant a full day off work. Farmers walked to the branch, waited in a long queue and filled in forms they could not always read. Today the nearest 'branch' for many villagers is a shopkeeper with a fingerprint scanner. These business correspondents, as banks call them, let customers deposit and withdraw small sums, check balances and send money home without travelling to town.
The model has clear advantages. It costs a bank far less to support a correspondent than to run a full branch, and the customer saves both time and bus fare. Women, who often find it hard to leave home for a whole day, have been among the biggest gainers. In many villages, the correspondent has also become a trusted guide who helps people apply for pensions, insurance and crop loans.
The model is not free of problems, though. Correspondents earn a small commission on each transaction, and in areas with few customers this income is too low to keep them going. Many leave within a year or two, and the village is left without service once again. Network failures are another headache: a customer who has walked two kilometres may find that the machine cannot connect and the transaction fails. A few correspondents have also been caught charging illegal fees from customers who do not know their rights.
Banks and regulators have tried to respond. Some banks now pay a fixed monthly amount in addition to the commission, so that correspondents in remote areas can earn a steady income. Customers are being told through posters and radio messages that services such as balance enquiry are free. Experts say the next step should be better training, so that correspondents can explain products clearly instead of simply pushing whatever earns the highest commission.
Q1.Why did opening a bank account in Rampur in the 1970s mean a full day off work?
- Farmers had to walk to the branch, wait in a long queue and fill in forms
- Accounts could be opened only by government officials
- Farmers had to travel to the state capital
- The bank needed a week to verify each form
- The bank opened only one day a week
Q2.Who is a business correspondent, according to the passage?
- A government officer who inspects banks
- A moneylender who gives loans in villages
- A journalist who writes about banking
- A senior manager of a bank branch
- A local person, often a shopkeeper, who provides basic banking services on behalf of a bank
Q3.Which group, according to the passage, has gained the most from the business correspondent model?
- Students living in cities
- Owners of buses
- Bank managers
- Women who find it hard to leave home for a whole day
- Large traders in towns