India Post Payments Bank

The IPPB or Indian Post Payments Bank, launched by PM Modi on Saturday Sep 01,2018, is an initiative of the government aimed at making banking services available at people’s doorstep. This payments bank of the Indian postal department will work through a network of post offices and nearly 3 lakh postmen and ‘Grameen Dak Sewaks’. The services of IPPB will be available at 650 branches and 3,250 access points from today.

Services available

The operations of IPPB will be on a smaller scale as compared to other banks and will not advance loans or issue credit cards to avoid risk. Performing the rest of its functions, it will accept deposits, offer remittance services, mobile payments/transfers/purchases and other banking services like ATM/debit cards, net banking and third-party fund transfers. It has teamed up with PNB and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance for loans and insurances.
The maximum limit on deposits is Rs 1 lakh, beyond which the account will be automatically converted into post office savings account. The bank offers a 4 per cent interest rate on savings account.

How to avail IPPB services

The products and services of the bank will be made available through various mediums such as counter services, micro ATMs, mobile banking app, messages and interactive voice response.
The IPPB will use Aadhaar to open accounts and a QR card and biometrics will be used for authentication, transactions, and payments. The Grameen Dak Sewaks will carry smartphones and biometric devices to handle transactions.
To begin with, the services have been made available at 650 branches and 3,250 access points from Saturday. The government aims to increase the number of access points to 1.55 lakh by December, of which 1.30 lakh will be located in rural areas.

About India Post Payments Bank
1) India Post Payments Bank has been set up under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication, with 100% equity owned by Government of India.
2) It started operations on 30 January, 2017, by opening two pilot branches, one at Raipur and the other at Ranchi.
3) India Post Payments Bank will offer 4 per cent interest rate on savings accounts.
4) Payments banks can accept deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh per account from individuals and small businesses, but do not have the mandate to extend loans.
5) But India Post Payments Bank will, in alliance with other financial service providers, offer third-party products. For example, in case of loans, India Post Payments Bank will work as an agent of PNB.
6) India Post Payments Bank will offer a range of products such as savings and current accounts, money transfer, direct benefit transfers, bill and utility payments, and enterprise and merchant payments.
7) These products, and services, will be offered across multiple channels (counter services, micro-ATM, mobile banking app, SMS and IVR), using the India Post Payments Bank’s technology platform.
8) India Post Payments Bank has been allowed to link around 17 crore postal savings bank (PSB) accounts with its accounts.
9) India Post Payments Bank “has been envisioned as an accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man,” the government said in statement. It will leverage the vast network of the Department of Posts, which covers every corner of the country with more than 300,000 postmen and grameen dak sewaks.
10) The Cabinet earlier this week approved an 80% increase in spending for India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to Rs 1,435 crore. The increase will take the IPPB project outlay to Rs 1,435 crore from Rs 800 crore -- giving it additional firepower to compete in the market with existing operators like Airtel Payments Bank and Paytm Payments Bank