Future Group applies to RBI for payments bank licence

The Kishore Biyani-led Future Group Monday applied for a payments bank licence with the Reserve Bank of India, the banking entity to be called NuFuture Payments Bank, the group said.

The proposed payments bank will work towards extending the RBI's mandate of financial inclusion by focusing on the group's core consumer segments that include women, migrant workers, self-employed people as well as farmers and local entrepreneurs, the company said in a statement here.

Over 320 million customers visited Future Group retail chains in 2014, it added.

"The RBI's vision for the payments bank offers us an opportunity to bring us closer to our goal of offering more choice and convenience to Indians that help them plan their savings and consumption better," said group chief executive Kishore Biyani.

As per the RBI's guidelines issued last November, a payments bank can accept deposits, both savings and current, up to a maximum of Rs.10,000 initially, with the stated primary role of extending payments and remittance services to small businesses and low-income households.