Paytm launches niche payments bank

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian digital payments firm Paytm launched a niche payments bank on Tuesday, aiming to acquire 500 million customers in the next three years, the company said in a statement.

Paytm, which runs India's biggest electronic wallet, said it will offer an interest rate of 4 percent per annum on deposits.

The Paytm Payments Bank aims to open 31 branches and 3,000 customer service points in its first year of operations, the company said.

A payments bank is an institution that can take deposits and remittances but cannot lend.

(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Sunil Nair)