The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has moved a
Cabinet note on India Post’s payment bank proposal and is likely to seek
the approval of the Union Cabinet this month. India Post’s payment bank
is slated for a March 2017 launch.
“The postal department’s payment bank will be a game changer for
financial inclusion. Several international and national consortiums for
third party services are keen to partner with us. Deutsche Bank, Citi
Bank, Barclays, Templeton and all the banks of India and all mutual
funds and insurance companies, except LIC, for third party delivery, are
willing to partner,” Minister of Communications and Information
Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad told The Indian Express.
The domestic players in the fray for partnering India Post include
NABARD, HSBC, Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Kotak Life
Insurance, HDFC, PNB Metlife, ICICI Lombard, ICICI Prudential, and Bajaj
Allianz, while the international ones, apart from Deutsche Bank,
Barclays, Citi and Templeton, include Transport USA for renting
solutions, Western Union, ClearSecurity and Japan’s Hitachi.