Arun Jaitley, union minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, will be launching Airtel Payments Bank — India’s first payment bank — on Thursday.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Enterprises, will be attending the event in New Delhi. Bharti Airtel received payments bank license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April 2016.
Shashi Arora is the MD and CEO of Airtel Payments Bank. Officials at Airtel Payments Bank, which has rolled out pilot projects in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, will reveal its growth strategies during a press meet in Delhi.
Airtel customers can access digital banking services over their smartphones and basic mobile phones.
Airtel Payments Bank is offering an interest rate of 7.25 percent per annum on deposits in savings accounts. Savings bank holders get personal accidental insurance of Rs 1 lakh with every savings account.
Users can deposit and withdraw funds across a wide network of Airtel retail outlets in India. Airtel has a national distribution network of over 1.5 million retail outlets with strong presence in rural India.
Airtel Payments Bank earlier said it plans to connect with over 3 million merchant partners that will include small shops and restaurants etc. Retailers can accept digital payments for goods and services from Airtel Payments Bank customers over mobile phones.
Airtel Payments Bank will not charge any processing fee from merchants and this facility would be free for the customers as well as the merchants.
Airtel Payments Bank aims to bring cost effective banking services to the doorstep of every citizen of the country including rural areas. It plans to leverage Bharti Airtel’s extensive national distribution network of over 1.5 million retail outlets, with deep penetration in rural areas.
Airtel Payments Bank’s product portfolio includes payment banking services and semi-closed mobile wallet services (Airtel Money).
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