Airtel Payments Bank, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel rolled out a pilot of its banking services in Rajasthan last month. It also announced that it will be offering one minute of talk time for every Rupee deposited for first time deposits only. Today it has launched pilot services in Karnataka across 12,000 Airtel retail outlets. “70 % of these banking points are in rural areas, thereby driving financial inclusion and reaching unbanked/underbanked areas,” said the company.
Customers in these towns and villages across Rajasthan will now be able to open bank accounts at Airtel retail outlets, which will also act as Airtel banking points and offer a range of basic, convenient banking services such as cash deposit & withdrawal facilities.
Airtel said that its successful pilot roll out in Rajasthan saw 100,000 customers opening savings accounts in less than two weeks of commencement of services.
Commenting on the launch of Airtel Payments Bank, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said:
The mobile phone has emerged as a powerful device to drive financial inclusion and advance cashless transactions in the country. Evolving financial inclusion for the citizens, Airtel Payments Bank will accelerate as a significant banking partner in taking digital banking experience to the rural citizens. I invite the citizens of Karnataka to embrace digital economy and wish that the unbanked make use of the occasion to adopt digital payments. I look forward to a successful transition to digital banking.
Shashi Arora, MD & CEO – Airtel Payments Bank said:
We are pleased to rollout our pilot service in Karnataka and look forward to serving customers and contributing the financial inclusion vision of the two states. We have received an extremely positive response from customers in Rajasthan and would like to replicate the same in Karnataka before we rollout our services nationally.