Airtel Payments Bank to go live starting today
It promises to be a paperless and simple-to-use bank, with the user's registered Airtel mobile number doubling up as the account number. To register for Airtel Payments Bank, one has to submit one's Aadhaar card number and the biometric (fingerprint) scan for authentication.
- Jan 12, 2017,
- Updated Jan 12, 2017 6:00 PM IST
The country's leading mobile phone operator, Bharti Airtel, has announced the launch of Airtel Payments Bank. It will go live in the 29 states of India starting today.
It promises to be a paperless and simple-to-use bank, with the user's registered Airtel mobile number doubling up as the account number. To register for Airtel Payments Bank, one has to submit one's Aadhaar card number and the biometric (fingerprint) scan for authentication.
Airtel has over a 250,000 banking points (Airtel retail stores) where one can deposit and withdraw money; the operator aims to take this number to 6 lakh banking points in the coming days.
While there is an app in place, Airtel is not restricting it to smartphones. Feature phone users can also access the Payments Bank service through USSD and IVR In 12 languages. They can check the last few transactions, transfer funds and much more. Airtel also plans to enable a virtual debit card for its Payments Bank.
In comprison to traditional banks, Airtel claims to offer various benefits to its customers. The Airtel Payments Bank will not charge any processing fee from its customers and merchant partners for digital transactions. It will offer customers an interest rate of 7.25 per cent per annum on deposits in savings accounts.
Airtel also plans to offer one minute of Airtel mobile talk time for every rupee deposited at the time of opening a savings account. One will also receive free personal accidental insurance of Rs 1 lakh with every savings account opened.
At the launch event, Sunil Bharti Mittal said, "Airtel has been at the forefront of India's digital transformation and has empowered over 260 million customers with affordable telecom services. With Airtel Payments Bank, we are starting another important chapter in our journey, with the potential to truly transform lives and contribute to financial inclusion in the country."
Airtel has rolled out its banking services in Rajasthan in November 2016 as a pilot roll-out, which saw over one one lakh customers opening savings accounts in less than two weeks of commencement of services. Today, Airtel already has over one million customers. The company aims to develop a nation-wide digital payments ecosystem with over five million merchants, and has committed an initial investment of Rs 3,000 crore to develop a pan-India banking network and digital payments ecosystem.
The country's leading mobile phone operator, Bharti Airtel, has announced the launch of Airtel Payments Bank. It will go live in the 29 states of India starting today.
It promises to be a paperless and simple-to-use bank, with the user's registered Airtel mobile number doubling up as the account number. To register for Airtel Payments Bank, one has to submit one's Aadhaar card number and the biometric (fingerprint) scan for authentication.
Airtel has over a 250,000 banking points (Airtel retail stores) where one can deposit and withdraw money; the operator aims to take this number to 6 lakh banking points in the coming days.
While there is an app in place, Airtel is not restricting it to smartphones. Feature phone users can also access the Payments Bank service through USSD and IVR In 12 languages. They can check the last few transactions, transfer funds and much more. Airtel also plans to enable a virtual debit card for its Payments Bank.
In comprison to traditional banks, Airtel claims to offer various benefits to its customers. The Airtel Payments Bank will not charge any processing fee from its customers and merchant partners for digital transactions. It will offer customers an interest rate of 7.25 per cent per annum on deposits in savings accounts.
Airtel also plans to offer one minute of Airtel mobile talk time for every rupee deposited at the time of opening a savings account. One will also receive free personal accidental insurance of Rs 1 lakh with every savings account opened.
At the launch event, Sunil Bharti Mittal said, "Airtel has been at the forefront of India's digital transformation and has empowered over 260 million customers with affordable telecom services. With Airtel Payments Bank, we are starting another important chapter in our journey, with the potential to truly transform lives and contribute to financial inclusion in the country."
Airtel has rolled out its banking services in Rajasthan in November 2016 as a pilot roll-out, which saw over one one lakh customers opening savings accounts in less than two weeks of commencement of services. Today, Airtel already has over one million customers. The company aims to develop a nation-wide digital payments ecosystem with over five million merchants, and has committed an initial investment of Rs 3,000 crore to develop a pan-India banking network and digital payments ecosystem.