State-owned lenders Dena Bank and UCO Bank have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to act as registrars for the 'Aadhaar' biometric smartcard project.

Both banks will act as registrars for providing Unique Identification Numbers under the UID initiative.

The banks will provide UID numbers to existing as well as future customers by collecting biometric and demographic details as per the norms established by the UIDAI, Dena Bank said in a statement.

This provision will enable real-time online authentication of identities for satisfying the know-your- customer (KYC) norms required for opening of 'no frills' savings accounts by sections of the population that do not have alternative proof of identity, it said.

Through this MOU, the banks will leverage the UID to deepen the reach and ease the process of financial inclusion, it said.

A first step on the road to financial inclusion, the UID project aims to develop the architecture of technical standards and an ecosystem to facilitate collection of demographic and biometric attributes, it said.