Moneycontrol BureauMore than 12 months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued in-principle approvals to 11 applicants to launch payments banks, only four have clear business models to launch the banks by February 2017, Mint reported on Wednesday.
Of the 11 players that got in the RBI approvals, three have backed out. Those with well-defined business models and timelines are Airtel M Commerce Services, FINO PayTech, Paytm Payments Bank and the Department of Posts.
In April 2016, Airtel M Commerce Services received RBI’s final approval to set up a payments bank and while the company will continue to use its mobile wallet services to provide payments services, it will also leverage Bharti Airtel’s existing network of stores, the report stated.
Meanwhile In the case of the Department of Posts’ India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been incorporated as a company under the Companies Act, 2013. IPPB is in talks with technology vendors to take care of the back-end infrastructure necessary to provide banking services to its customers.
Paytm Payments Bank plans to launch its payments bank services by October-November with basic savings accounts for customers. While basic transactions will be the key business, selling third-party products through mobile apps and banking outlets will be Paytm bank’s avenue to make money, according to Mint report.
FINO PayTech plans launch its payments bank by February 2017. The company plans to convert 400 of its FINO Money Mart outlets into bank branches. FINO provides services ranging from remittances, utility bill payments and lending in rural areas to international remittance cash-out facility through these outlets. The company will continue to provide these services along with business correspondent services to universal banks.
The remaining four players appear vague about their plans, according to the report.
“While Vodafone m-Pesa and the Aditya Birla Group did not share any information regarding their respective payments bank plans, National Security Depository Ltd managing director and CEO G V Nageswara Rao maintained that it would start operations sometime in December, without giving details,” Mint reported
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Reliance Industries (RIL) told Mint that its payments bank offering was work-in-progress, adding that the company aims at a launch sometime next year.
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