Airtel Payments Bank, one of the first payment bank service to launch in India, has now been made available to over 200 villages across 4 states in the country — Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. And Paytm, who has gained RBI approval, is currently out there setting up their operations for a scheduled launch in a couple of months.
As per the company, each of the 200-plus villages, which previously had zero access to formal banking services, now have at least one Airtel Payments Bank outlet offering basic banking services, including cash deposits, withdrawals, and seamless money transfer facilities.
With this payment service roll-out to newer geographies, especially in rural areas, the company is aiming to reduce the dependence on cash transactions as part of its plan to roll out financial services to millions outside the banking system. Moving forward, the telecom giant plans to expand its banking services to more than 5,000 villages across the nation “to help them similarly go cashless”.
Airtel’s payments banking services would help cashless purchases of farm produce, goods, and services through their mobile phones. Shashi Arora, MD of Airtel Payments Bank, says that with such initiatives, they are taking banking services to the unbanked and also enabling them to be less reliant on cash.
The pilot for the payments bank service was started by the telecom company last year, starting from Rajasthan with 10,000 retail outlets. It offers an annual interest of 7.25% and a Rs 1 lakh personal accident insurance cover to account holders. It is planning to expand its reach to about 1,00,000 outlets by the end of this year.
Airtel has converted its retail outlets across the nation into retail outlets cum Airtel Banks — offering consumers convenient access to all the basic banking services. It is hoping to exploit Bharti Airtel’s nearly 1.5 million retail outlets to offer its banking services to the corners of our country.
Other than Airtel, Paytm has also launched its payments bank service. IndiaPost, the largest postal system in the country, has got the final nod from the Reserve Bank of India to start its payments bank service.
