Announces tie ups with leading retail outlets/ chains like Spencers, Khadims, Manyavar, Bazaar Kolkata,
Aarambagh Foodmart, Bhojohori Manna and Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick to name a few
A network of over 21,000 neighbourhood Airtel retail stores across the State are helping take convenient digital
banking closer to customers
Close to 70% of the accounts opened in rural areas, contributing to financial inclusion in the State
Enables over 100 villages across the State to go cashless
Kolkata, February 23, 2017: Airtel
Payments Bank, India’s first payments bank, today said that it has opened over one and a half lakh (150,000)
savings accounts in West Bengal since its launch. Approximately 70% of these accounts have been opened in rural
areas, thereby, contributing to financial inclusion in the State.
Airtel Payments Bank, a fully digital and paperless bank, aims to take basic banking services to the doorstep of
every Indian by leveraging Airtel’s vast retail network. In West Bengal, over 21,000 neighbourhood Airtel retail
stores also function as banking points, and customers can open savings accounts, deposit and withdraw cash across
any of these banking points. Majority of these banking points across the State are in rural areas, helping in
extending the reach of services to unbanked regions.
Airtel payments Bank’s bouquet of innovative and convenient services include:
• Digital Banking: Quick and paperless account opening using Aadhaar based e-KYC. This
requires no documents at all, only the customer’s Aadhaar number is needed.
• The customer’s mobile number will be his/her bank account number.
• Interest rate of 7.25 % p.a. on deposits in savings accounts, the highest in
India.
• One minute of Airtel mobile talk-time for every Rupee deposited at the time of opening a savings
account.
• Money transfer to any bank account in India (Free money transfer from Airtel-to-Airtel
numbers within Airtel Payments Bank).
• Free Personal Accidental Insurance of Rs. 1 Lac with every Savings Account.
• Easy deposit and withdrawal facility across a wide network of Airtel retail outlets.
• USSD and IVR in 12 languages for non-smartphone customers.
• An online debit card in partnership with MasterCard.
Airtel Payments Bank’s services can be accessed by customers on their feature phones as well through USSD by dialing
*400#; or via a simple IVR by dialing 400. Both the USSD & IVR options are available in 12 local languages.
Customers can also access services by dialing 88006-88006 in addition to visiting any designated Airtel retail
outlet to access services (and not just the outlet where they have opened the account).
Shashi Arora, MD & CEO – Airtel Payments Bank said, “We are pleased with the encouraging response our services
have received from customers across West Bengal. Given Airtel’s deep distribution reach across the State, we have
been able to take our banking services to unbanked regions. We will continue to build on this momentum and
contribute to financial inclusion in the State.”
Digital Payments Ecosystem
Airtel Payments Bank is developing a nationwide merchant ecosystem of over five million partners including small
kirana stores, grocers, pharmacies, restaurants, etc. It is also enabling a large network of merchant across West
Bengal. Leading retail outlets/chains like Spencers, Khadims, Manyavar, Bazaar Kolkata, Aarambagh Foodmart,
Bhojohori Manna and Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick will now accept digital payments from Airtel
Payments Bank customers over mobile phones.
Airtel Payments Bank will not charge any processing fee from its customers and merchants partners for digital
transactions, thereby encouraging them to adopt cashless payments.
Cashless Villages
Airtel Payments Bank has enabled over 100 villages across West Bengal to go cashless as part of its endeavor to take
its banking services deep into rural/unbanked areas and contribute to financial inclusion in the country. These
villages now have access to basic banking services and the option of making digital payments, making them less
reliant on cash.
• Every village now has at least one Airtel Payment Bank outlet that provides convenient banking services
including cash deposits and withdrawals
• Majority of the village households now have a savings account with Airtel Payments Bank and can
bank/transact even with basic feature phones.
• Merchants/shops in the village accept digital payments via mobile phones from Airtel Payments Bank
customers.
• In addition, farmers/small artisans in the village have been trained to accept digital payments for their
produce/goods/services.
Residents of these villages no longer have to travel huge distances to access a bank and no longer need to keep
their money at home and worry about its safety. They are also able to earn a healthy interest rate on their savings
deposits. Most households in these villages have one or more family member working in cities/towns across the
country and they can now receive money transfers from family members/friends conveniently. Airtel Payments Bank aims
to enable 5000 villages across India to go cashless under this initiative.
Airtel Payments Bank currently has a network of over 250,000 neighbourhood Airtel retail stores, which also function
as banking points. This is more than the total number of ATMs in the country. The Bank aims to scale its network to
600,000 banking points. Airtel Payments Bank has committed an investment of Rs. 3000 crore across its national
operations.