Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank, a 51:49 joint venture between Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd (ABNL) and telecom major Idea Cellular, will launch its services in the first half of 2017, the telco said in a letter to media. Idea Cellular Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Rajat Mukarji, in a letter to media, said, "The first half of 2017 will also see the launch of Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank.”
Airtel Payments Bank became the country’s first payments bank to roll out its banking services in Rajasthan in November this year, and it expanded services to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in following weeks. Bharti Airtel had recently said the pilot rollout in Rajasthan saw over one lakh customers opening savings accounts in less than two weeks of commencement of services.
Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh per account.
Jio Payments Bank, a joint venture of Reliance Industries Ltd, and State Bank of India, also came into existence on November 10, according to the Indian Express. Notably, the Jio Payments bank was incorporated only two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision to discontinue Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
Vodafone, the country's second largest telecom operator, will also launch its payments bank within three months. Sunil Sood, managing director, Vodafone India had recently told media that the company was in final stages but it hasn’t applied for the final license yet. "Our plan is on track for launch by March,” he added.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave in-principle nod to 11 entities for payments bank last year. However, Tech Mahindra, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company and a consortium of Dilip Shanghvi, IDFC Bank and Telenor Financial Services backed out of the payments bank licensing.
Also read: Payment bank facility will help reduce subscriber churn for the operators: Experts
Paytm Payments Bank, India Post Payments Bank, NSDL Payments Bank and Fino PayTech will also launch payments bank services this year.
