By PTI | 16 Dec, 2015, 06.47PM IST
Japan-based Hitachi is keen to partner with Postal Department for payments bank solutions, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.
The President and CEO of IT Systems,
Hitachi Ltd, Yutaka Saito, today called on the minister and discussed about the
possibility of Hitachi offering its banking solutions in a revenue sharing
model to the Postal Department.
"I have heard them, they have
already met the Postal Department people. I have asked them to make elaborate
presentations. They have come with the idea of revenue sharing model to install
the banking solutions in all the post offices in India. We will consider
it," Prasad said after the meeting.
"I have asked the Postal
Department to work out the details," he added.
Hitachi payment services offer
banking solutions related to ATM, point of sale (POS), cash and deposit
machines and card management solutions to all leading banks of the
country.
"They are very keen to parter
with Postal Department for payments bank solutions in the vast network of
India's postal operations across the country and in rural areas," Prasad
said.
The minister further said what is
important is the technical upgradation of rural post offices to make payment
bank a success.
"I have assured them that with
Digital India opening up in India in a big way, there is enough scope for
products, marketing, consumer base and above all innovation," he
added.
The Reserve Bank granted
in-principle approval to 11 applicants, including Postal Department, in August
to set up payments banks.
As per RBI guidelines, payments
banks would offer a limited range of products such as demand deposits and
remittances. They will not be allowed to undertake lending activities and will
initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh per individual
customer.
They will be allowed to issue ATM or
debit cards as also other prepaid payment instruments, but not credit
cards.
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