Airtel Payments Bank opens over 1 lakh accounts in UP

Airtel Payments Bank today said it has opened over one lakh savings accounts in Uttar Pradesh within the first two weeks of its launch in the state.
"We have opened one lakh savings accounts in the first two weeks. Appoximately 60 per cent of these accounts have been opened in rural areas, underlining the massive scope for serving customers, particularly in unbanked and underbanked pockets of the state," Airtel Payments Bank MD and CEO Shashi Arora told reporters here.
In Uttar Pradesh over 12,000 neighbourhood Airtel retail stores will also function as banking points, and customers will be able to open savings accounts, deposit and withdraw cash across any of these banking points, he said.

Nearly two-thirds of these banking points across the state are in rural areas, helping in extending the reach of services to unbanked regions.
"We are delighted with the response received from the customers in UP and look forward to building on this momentum and serve even more customers in the days to come", the CEO said.
Bharti Airtel was among the 11 entities that bagged in-principle approval from RBI in 2015 to launch payments banks. It rolled out payment bank services on pilot basis in Rajasthan, followed with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana last year.
Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh per account.