Airtel M Commerce Services Ltd. (AMSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, on Thursday, said it planned to apply for a payments bank licence that are to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
Kotak Mahindra Bank will acquire 19.90 per cent stake in AMSL as an investor, subject to the grant of the licence.
AMSL offers mobile money services under the brand name,Airtel Money.
“AMSL is seeking to convert its existing pre-paid payment instrument licence into a payments bank licence,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement.
The primary objective of payments banks, as stated by the RBI, is to further 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.
These banks will not offer the entire range of banking services offered by full-fledged banks.
Bharti Airtel Managing Director and CEO (India and South Asia) Gopal Vittal said, “Kotak’s banking expertise coupled with Airtel’s strength in telecom will help deliver financial services to millions of unbanked citizens across the country.”
Airtel is the largest mobile services provider in India with over 215 million subscribers.
PTI reports from
Hyderabad:
SKS Microfinance on Thursday said its board of directors had approved a proposal to apply for small finance bank licence.
