IPPB
branches launched in Ranchi & Raipur
Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley
and Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha launched the operations of the
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) here today as two pilot branches at Raipur and
Ranchi through video conferencing from Delhi.
Speaking
on the occasion, Shri Jaitley said that about 650 IPPB branches will be opened
by September this year and that will have a multiplier impact as far as banking
in India is concerned. He said with IPPB, banking at the doorstep will no
longer remain a mere slogan, but will become a reality due to huge postal
network in the country. He said that financial Inclusion is critical for the
socio-economic development of the country, but there are significant gaps in
this area and a large proportion of country’s population remain unbanked or
underbanked. IPPB will effectively leverage the ubiquitous post office network
with its pan-India physical presence, long experience in cash handling and
savings mobilization, backed by the ongoing project of IT-enablement, to bridge
this gap in Financial Inclusion.
In
his address, Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha has commended the hard
work done by the Department of Posts in setting up the India Post Payments Bank
and hoped that both organizations will work in tandem to take the benefits of
government schemes and financial services that are not easily available in
rural areas to customers across the country and to the marginalized population
in urban and rural areas alike. He said, the objective of IPPB will be public
service rather than promoting commercial interests.
Secretary,
Department of Posts, Shri B.V.Sudhakar said that the IPPB is widely expected to
be a game changer for financial inclusion in the country as the USP of this
initiative is doorstep banking, particularly in the rural areas.
As
mandated by the RBI, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) would focus on
providing basic financial services such as all kinds of payments; including
social security payments, utility bill payments, person to person remittances
(both domestic and cross-border), current and savings accounts up to a balance of
Rs 1 lac, distribution of insurance, mutual funds, pension products and acting
as business correspondent to other banks for credit products especially in
rural areas and among the underserved segments of the society.
Set
up us a 100% Government of India owned Public Limited Company under the
Department of Posts, it will open around 650 branches in district HQ locations.
All 1.55 lacs post offices including the 1.39 lac of the rural post offices
will be mapped to the IPPB branch at the district headquarter and function as
access points for IPPB. IPPB will usher in state of the art internet and mobile
banking platforms, digital wallets and use innovative and emerging technologies
to catalyse the shift from a cash dominant to a less cash economy.
While
many other banks and financial institutions are working on the same theme, the
USP of IPPB will be its ability to ease access and handhold the adoption of new
age banking and payments instruments among citizen of all walks of life through
the delivery by postmen and Grameen Dak sevaks, savings agents and other
franchisees who will take banking to door steps. IPPB thus aspires to the most
accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man with the motto - “No
customer is too small, no transaction too insignificant, and no deposit too
little”.
Given
‘in principle’ approval by the RBI along with 10 other aspirants on 19th Aug
2015, IPPB received the cabinet’s approval on 1st June, 2016 and was
incorporated as on 17th Sept, 2106. Today it became the second payments bank to
launch its operations. Having got its final banking license from the RBI on the
20th Jan 2017 it has commenced operations in record time of 10 days in
partnership with the Punjab National Bank, after obtaining all necessary
approvals and registrations from the RBI, NPCI etc.
A
commemorative stamp and a logo of the new bank were also launched on the
occasion.
