Airtel to start payments bank through subsidiary in second quarter this fiscal

Company also announced renaming of Airtel m-commerce services as Airtel Payments Bank

Country’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel’s subsidiary Airtel M-commerce services plan to payments bank operations in the second quarter of current fiscal.

Airtel also announced renaming of Airtel m-commerce services as Airtel Payments Bank. It is the first company in India to receive a payments bank license from the RBI, the company said in a statement.

The Company also unveiled a new logo to reflect its new identity. 

On April 11, 2016, Airtel Payments Bank Ltd became the first entity in India to receive a payments bank license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

Last year, Kotak Mahindra Bank had acquired 19.9% stake in Airtel Payments Bank Ltd for about 98.8 crore. Kotak is expected to bring its banking expertise to the venture.

Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel said, “The new identity reflects our strong focus on the payments bank segment and our commitment to the Government’s vision of financial inclusion and banking services for every citizen. With Airtel’s deep distribution network that touches every corner of the country, we believe that Airtel Payments Bank is uniquely placed to deliver quality banking services to customers by leveraging the power of mobile telephony.”

Airtel Payments Bank Limited (which began operations in 2011 as Airtel M-Commerce Services Ltd.) currently provides money transfer services and semi-closed wallet services -- Airtel Money with presence in over 800 towns across India. 

It plans to leverage Bharti Airtel’s national distribution network that runs deep into rural areas and offers a robust platform to deliver banking services to the last mile. Currently, the Airtel distribution channel is spread across 1.5 million outlets with network presence in 5,126 census and 464,361 non-census towns and villages in India covering about 87 per cent of the population, the statement added.