PayNearby’s Digital Naari to onboard 50,000 rural women entrepreneurs from Maharashtra over the next 6 months. Women across smaller towns and villages are now rewriting the growth story of India. The women, who were once confined to household chores are today emerging as critical enablers of digital and financial services for their communities.
Maharashtra tops the list with 22.69 lakh women achieving Lakhpati Didis, providing sustainable livelihood opportunities to women. Accelerating this progress in the state, India’s leading branchless banking and digital network PayNearby, has set an aim to onboard 50,000 rural women entrepreneurs from Maharashtra over the next 6 months with new income opportunities, as part of its Digital Naari program.
The program aligns seamlessly with national programmes like the ‘Lakhpati Didi’ initiative, which aims to empower women to earn over ₹1 lakh annually and become economic leaders at the grassroots. A long term self-sustaining, social impact initiative, PayNearby is creating a socio-economic impact through its Digital Naari program. Each Digital Naari, or “banker didi,” operates from home or runs her own store offering services such as banking, payments, insurance, credit, mutual funds, and more. Every transaction they facilitate earns them a commission, creating a steady income stream. This entrepreneurial model not only ensures long-term financial independence for the women but also guarantees that essential services remain consistently available to their communities without being reliant on periodic CSR funds.
One such case is of Durga Naktode, a 35-year-old woman from Bagalbandh, a small village in Maharashtra’s Gondia district who signed up to become a PayNearby’s Digital Naari. From homemaker to a community influencer, today Durga provides essential banking services like cash withdrawals, money transfers, mobile recharges, bill payments and more in her village. These services that earlier required villagers to travel 12 kilometers to the nearest financial institution, are now able to access these services with ease. She supports over 200 families and manages transactions worth over ₹5 lakh every month. Along with banking, she also spreads awareness about health and hygiene and promotes menstrual hygiene by selling sanitary pads.
Jayatri Dasgupta, CMO PayNearby & Program Director, Digital Naari said, “The Digital Naari model is built for independence from the outset. The model scales because it is phygital and demand-driven: women deliver essential, everyday services that households need year-round, ensuring steady footfall and repeat transactions. Collectively, Digital Naaris associated with the platform facilitate over ₹10,000 crore in annual transactions, with over 60% first-time entrepreneurs earning on average ₹3,500–₹5,000 per month, showcasing the financial viability of the model at the last mile.”
Over the next three years, PayNearby aims to enable self-employment for at least 1 million women across India, equipping them with the tools, services, and training needed for sustainable income generation. Through this, it envisions to reach over 100 million households, providing them easy access to financial, digital, and social services through this robust, women-led network.
About PayNearby:
Incepted in April 2016, PayNearby is a DPIIT-certified company and India’s leading branchless banking and digital network. PayNearby operates on a B2B2C model, where it partners with neighbourhood retail stores and enables them with the tools to provide digital and financial services to local communities. PayNearby’s mission is to make financial and digital services available to everyone, everywhere. The company aims to simplify high-end technology so that it can be easily assimilated at the last mile while transforming the lives of its retail partners and customers.
Today, through its tech-led DaaS (Distribution as a Service) network, PayNearby enables services like cash deposits, withdrawals, ecommerce, credit, insurance, travel, utility payments, and more. Currently, PayNearby’s 12+ lakh retail partners & 1.5+ lakh Digital Naaris spread across 20,000+ PIN codes assist over 5+ crore customers across the country, facilitating 25 crores yearly transactions.
About Digital Naari
PayNearby’s Digital Naari Program is a self-sustaining micro-entrepreneurial ecosystem that empowers women across Bharat with a secure platform to become banking and digital Didis in their communities and ensure long-term livelihood for themselves. The program’s mission is to build grassroots community influencers who drive awareness and improve access to essential services like banking, health, sanitation, insurance, and credit for other women in their areas. In the process, the Digital Naaris ensure stable income for themselves and their families.
Currently, the initiative has over 1,50,000 registered Naaris, with a monthly average of 75,000+ active Naaris consistently transacting. In FY 2023, the program facilitated financial inclusion services worth ₹10,000 crores. By transforming these women into community influencers through structured training, capacity building, and the use of a super app, the Digital Naari initiative empowers them to gain greater agency in their lives, support their families more effectively, and contribute to a socially impactful movement.
The goal of this program is to create 3 Crore Lakhpati Didis by 2030, supported by the Digital Naari app, who will positively impact the lives of 50 crore women across Bharat.
