India Post Payments Bank launches pilot services
A third payments bank arrives
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has launched and is rolling out pilot services in Raipur and Ranchi.
IPPB is the third payments bank to be authorised in India, and follows on the heels of Paytm (launched last year) and Airtel (opened for business this year).
IPPB’s chief executive officer, A P Singh, says: “The idea is to have a branch in every district and make three lakh [300,000] postmen come alive in payment bank functions.”
For its technology, IPPB uses Infosys’ Finacle core banking system, Banking Technology understands. Paytm uses the same system.
India Post has been rolling out Finacle for a number of years – a huge project to automate the financial services across the post office branches and improve access to financial services for the country’s population.
About 1,000 ATMs belonging to India Post will be transferred to IPPB, adds Singh. In addition, India’s telecom minister Manoj Sinha says IPPB plans to have 650 branches across the nation by September 2017.
The idea of these payments banks is to drive financial inclusion in India – and provide banking services to individuals and small businesses.
On its website, IPPB says it plans to be “present in all corners of India by the end of the year”.
For now, IPPB is offering a savings account up to a balance of IND 100,000 ($1,480) along with digitally enabled payments and remittance services between individuals. In due course, IPPB says it will also provide current accounts and access to third party financial services like insurance, mutual funds, pension, credit products and forex.
