Airtel Payments Bank opens 150,000 savings accounts in Odisha

Airtel Payments Bank said it has opened more than 150,000 savings accounts in Odisha since its launch. Around a third of such accounts have been opened in the rural areas, contributing to the cause of financial inclusion in the state.

Airtel Payments Bank, a fully digital and paperless bank, aims to take basic banking services to the doorstep of every Indian by leveraging Airtel's vast retail network. In Odisha, over 15,000 neighborhood Airtel retail stores also function as banking points, and customers can open savings accounts, deposit and withdraw cash across any of these banking points. Majority of these retail points are concentrated in the rural areas.

Shashi Arora, managing director & chief executive officer of Airtel Payments Bank said: "Airtel Payments Bank has received overwhelming response from customers in Odisha. We believe, Airtel Payments Bank's differentiated banking model will play an important role in taking banking services to the last mile and benefit lakhs of unbanked people in the state."

Airtel Payments Bank is offering a bouquet of services- digital banking, interest rate of 7.25 per cent on the savings accounts, money transfer to any bank account in India, free personal accident insurance of Rs one lakh, easy deposit and withdrawal facility and an online debit card in partnership with MasterCard.

Nationwide, Airtel Payments Bank is developing a merchant ecosystem of over five million partners including small kirana stores, grocers, pharmacies and restaurants. It is also enabling a large network of merchant across Odisha. Airtel Payments Bank will not charge any processing fee from its customers and merchants partners for digital transactions, thereby encouraging them to adopt cashless payments.

Airtel Payments Bank will enable over more than 100 villages across Odisha to be less cash reliant as part of its endeavor to take its banking services deep into rural/unbanked areas and contribute to financial inclusion in the country. These villages will have access to basic banking services and the option of making digital payments, making them less reliant on cash.

Each of these villages would have at least one Airtel Payments Bank outlet that provides convenient banking services including cash deposits and withdrawals. Merchants in the villages would accept digital payments via mobile phones from the Airtel Payments Bank customers. In addition, farmers and small artisans in the villages have been trained to accept digital payments for their produce and services.

Airtel Payments Bank currently has a network of over 250,000 neighbourhood Airtel stores, which function as banking points.