State Bank of India is inching towards the world banking industry's goal of offering paperless branches. The bank is rolling out paperless teller counters in 51 branches across 14 circles in the country. We are rolling out such counters, known as green channel counters, on a pilot run. We will replicate the model soon after getting feedback from the clients, said a top SBI official. The bank's chairman OP Bhatt is likely to formally inaugurate green channel counters on Wednesday.

Green channel counters means that teller transactions in those counters will be entirely paperless, the official added. Tata Consultancy Services is providing SBI with the necessary technological back-end for the project. The international banking community has been very active on finding out ways to remove paper cheques apart from other measures to reduce paper-based transactions.

In tune with trends worldwide, SBI has already been proactive in coming out with paper-saving measures like online banking, mobile banking and electronic statements. The bank has already accelerated its investments in improving business processes, but branches are still paper-ridden, said the official.

So far, SBI has limited per person per day transactions to Rs 40,000. A customer can withdraw, deposit or even transfer money through the green channel counters. He will require a debit card to do the transactions, the official said.