Airtel Payments Bank to Extend in AP, Telangana and Karnataka

[Nandan Jha]

Airtel Payments Bank which started its pilot project in Rajasthan will now extend its services to South Indian states namely Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. Bharti Airtel has planned around 35,000 Airtel outlets as banking points in these regions.

In a press statement, Bharti Airtel has reported that over 1 lakh customers have opened their saving accounts in Rajasthan with 70% of them in rural areas. It is to remind that over 10,000 Airtel retail outlets are serving as banking points with two-thirds of them being in rural areas.

Highlighting the achievement, Mr. Shashi Arora, MD and CEO, Airtel Payments Bank, said: “Our network allows us to take our banking services closer to the customer. We are also getting a good response from merchants and have further accelerated their onboarding.”

Extending its Footprint:

Airtel Payments Bank, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, plans to build a network of 1 lakh merchants in Rajasthan alone by the end of this year. Prior to its PAN-India launch, Bharti Airtel plans to extend its pilot project to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka.

The company has commissioned its retail outlets to act as banking points. With this, nearly 20,000 Airtel outlets will act as banking points in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. And over 15,000 company store outlets will function as banking points for Airtel Payments Bank.

Too Smart?

Airtel Payments Bank, the first of its kind is offering basic banking services as per the guidelines of RBI. It is offering the highest annual interest rate of 7.25% to its savings account holders and a personal accident insurance of Rs 1 lakh per account. Recently, the promoter also offered a minute of talk time for every rupee deposited while opening the account in Airtel Payments Bank. Indeed it’s a smart move to promote cashless purchases after demonetisation.