RBI issues payments bank licences to 11 firms
The companies that got payments bank licences include RIL, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Airtel M Commerce Services, Vodafone m-pesa and Tech Mahindra
Joel RebelloAnup Roy
The RBI had received 41 applications for payment bank licences. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint
The RBI had received 41 applications for payment bank licences. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint
Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday gave an in-principle nod to eleven entities to launch a payments bank—the first set of differentiated bank licences to be issued by the regulator.
The eleven companies include conglomerates and large telecom firms like Reliance Industries Ltd, Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, Airtel M Commerce Services Ltd, Vodafone m-pesa Ltd and Tech Mahindra Ltd.
The Department of Posts, Cholamandalam Distribution Services Ltd, FINO PayTech Ltd, National Securities Depository Ltd, Dilip Shanghvi (promoter of Sun Pharma) and Vijay Shekhar Sharma (promoter of Paytm) have also been granted licences.
The RBI had received 41 applications for payment bank licences, out of which 11 have been accepted
“In arriving at the final list, the Committee of the Central Board (CCB) noted that it would be difficult at this stage to forecast the most successful likely model in the emerging business of payments. The CCB further noted that payments banks cannot undertake lending, and therefore believed that the payments bank would not be subject to the same risks as a full service bank,” said the RBI as part of its statement.
“It has selected entities with experience in different sectors and with different capabilities so that different models could be tried,” said the RBI
Payments banks will provide basic savings, deposit, payment, and remittance services to people who currently do not have a bank account, including millions of migrant workers. Almost half of India’s population is unbanked. Such banks will not lend money.
“We believe the unbanked segment holds a big potential and we will continue to work for this segment,” said Rishi Gupta, managing director and chief executive officer of FINO PayTech Ltd, on news of getting the licence.
G.V. Nageswara Rao, managing director and chief executive officer of NSDL, said that there is lot of room to modernize payment systems and upcoming payment banks can play a role here.