The India Post Payments Bank
is working on striking synergies with the Post Office Savings Bank of the
Department of Posts to ensure that its customers don’t look elsewhere for
parking deposits exceeding ₹1 lakh.
In view of the regulatory
restriction that a payments bank can hold a maximum balance of ₹1lakh per
individual customer, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is planning to create
a mechanism whereby balances over this limit get automatically transferred to
the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB). In this regard, the IPPB is closely
examining a clause in the Reserve Bank of India’s payments bank guidelines
whereby it can accept a large pool of money to be remitted to a number of
accounts provided at the end of the day the balance does not exceed ₹1 lakh.
The IPPB and the POSB
apparently want to make sure that as far as possible the customer’s money stays
within the government-owned postal system. So, a customer opening a savings
bank account with IPPB will be given the option to also open a linked POSB
account. The IPPB has been set up under the Department of Posts (DoP) as a
public limited company wholly owned by the government of India. The DoP
received ‘in-principle’ RBI approval to set up payments bank in August 2015.
The POSB currently offers
investment options, including savings bank account, recurring deposit account,
time deposit, monthly income scheme, senior citizens savings scheme, and public
provident fund, to small investors. These services are offered as an agency
service for the Finance Ministry.
As per RBI guidelines,
payments banks can accept demand deposits — current deposits and savings bank
deposits from individuals, small businesses and other entities. They can
neither accept fixed deposits and NRI deposits nor can they give loans.
The primary objective of a
payment banks is to further the cause of financial inclusion by providing small
savings accounts and payments/remittance services to migrant labour workforce,
low-income households, small businesses, other unorganised sector entities and
other users.
Among the reasons cited by
banking industry experts for mainstream banks to pick up stakes in entities
having ‘in-principle’ RBI approval to start payments banks are to provide their
banking expertise, the opportunity to tap deposits exceeding ₹1 lakh, and
cross-selling loans.
For example, Reliance
Industries and State Bank of India have signed an agreement to set up a
payments bank with equity contribution of 70 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has acquired 19.90 per cent stake in Airtel Payments Bank.
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