India Post Payments Bank to open 25 branches by Sept

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 2

To strengthen financial inclusion in Punjab and Chandigarh, India Post Payments Bank plans to start banking operations at 25 locations by September.

Out of this, 23 branches will be in Punjab and two in Chandigarh. “We plan to open one branch each in Chandigarh and Malerkotla (Punjab) by mid-April followed by the remaining 23 branches in September. We are concentrating on the rural areas. The proposed move will encourage small entrepreneurs and inculcate saving habits among villagers,” said a senior official in the Postal Department.

He said the Postal Payments Bank would provide all services of a regular bank. Besides facilitating deposits and disbursement of payments, these banks will also open new accounts, sell insurance instruments and register electronic money orders. “It would be especially good for the rural areas, as banking sector doesn’t have much penetration in these areas,” said sources. To facilitate transactions, the postman will be provided with PoS machines.

India Post Payments Bank is the third entity to receive payments bank licence after Airtel and Paytm. Also, it is the second entity to roll out payments bank, though on a pilot basis in Raipur and Ranchi.

There are over 3,000 post offices in Punjab and 38 in Chandigarh. India Post has also issued debit cards to savings account holders in post offices and once the banking facility begins, more debit cards will be issued.