Today, Reserve Bank of India gave permission to formally launch Paytm Payments Bank. On its blog, Paytm announced this news. However, Airtel is the first company which already start a pilot project of payment bank in Rajasthan.
In a statement Paytm said, “At Paytm Payments Bank, our aim is to build a new business model in banking industry, focused on bringing financial services to 100’s of millions of unserved or undeserved Indians.”
With power of technology and innovation-at-scale, we aim to become a benchmark in world of banking.
This is our chance to build something that every Indian can be proud of. No other role or responsibility means as much to me as the privilege of building Paytm Payments Bank, and I intend to take a full-time executive role in the Bank.
Earlier today, Paytm also announced the integration of the UPI as a payments channel to recharge its wallet balance, using that you could recharge your Paytm Wallet with the BHIM app.
When contacted, a Paytm spokesperson said the company hopes to launch operations in February with the first branch coming up in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Paytm was earlier slated to begin operations around Diwali last year. In 2015, RBI had awarded ‘in-principle’ approval to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of One97 Communications, to set up a Payments Bank along with 10 others.
With the objective of deepening financial inclusion, RBI kicked off an era of differentiated banking by allowing SFBs (small finance banks) and PBs (payments banks) to start services. A total of 21 entities were given in-principle nod last year, including 11 for payments banks.