Global Banking institutions like World Bank, Swiss Bank and Barclays have expressed interest in being associated with the postal payments bank initiative of the centre.
The proposal to set up 650 branches of postal payment banks was cleared in June by the Union cabinet with a corpus of Rs 800 crores.
The Registrar of Companies recently issued the certificate of incorporation for the India Post Payments Bank Limited (IPPB). The postal payment banking service is expected to begin from September 17, after IPPB completes rolling out pan-India branches. Handheld devices and a moving ATM will be given to 13 lakh postmen, thus enabling them to provide banking services, money order, insurance and third party services at various locations across the country.
Now that the incorporation certificate has been issued, the constitution of the board of India Posts Payment Bank Limited is likely to happen soon. The bank is expected to begin its operations in 2017, and would therefore be soon recruiting banking professionals to move ahead with the setup process.
This is a significant step in the making of a powerful vehicle for financial inclusion. The motive is to make use of the finest of the banking and payments technologies so as to create most accessible banking solutions of the world.