Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi has launched the Payments Bank of Indian Postal department. The department will be responsible to take banking to the doorstep of every citizen through an unmatched network of post offices and almost 3 lakh postmen and ‘Grameen Dak Sewaks’.
The IPPB will operate like every other bank but will be focused on a smaller scale without involving any credit risk. As such, the bank will be able to carry out most banking operations, but it will not have the ability to advance loans or issue credit cards. However, the IPPB department has teamed up with financial services providers like PNB and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance for third-party products like loans and insurance.
The government owns 100 percent in IPPB, which has been set up under the aegis of the Department of Posts and will offer products and services through multiple channels such as counter services, micro ATMs, mobile banking app, messages and interactive voice response.
As per reports, the payments bank will accept deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh, offer remittance services, mobile payments/transfers/purchases and other banking services like ATM/debit cards, net banking, and third-party fund transfers. Additionally, it will offer a 4 percent interest rate on savings accounts.
What’s more is that the bank would make use of Aadhaar to open accounts, while a QR card and biometrics will drive authentication, transactions, and payments. It will further promote the use of technology since Grameen Dak Sewaks will be armed with smartphones and biometric devices to handle transactions.
According to Communications Minister Manoj Sinha, IPPB services will be available at 650 branches and 3,250 access points from today but will be quickly scaled to all 1.55 lakh post offices by December 2018. You can check out their official website here.
