PM Modi to launch India Post Payments Bank today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on Saturday that seeks on providing financial services from people across the country, especially in the rural areas, with the leverage of a vast network of the post office branches or postal department. The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will have as many as 650 branches and 3,250 access points across India after the launch which is scheduled for Saturday at the Talkatora Stadium, Delhi, said a government statement.

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Simultaneous launch events are also scheduled for future at the postal branches and access points, the statement added.

"IPPB has been envisioned as an accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man, to help speedily achieve the financial inclusion objectives of the Central government. It will leverage the vast network of the department of posts, which covers every corner of the country with more than 300,000 postmen and Grameen Dak Sewaks. IPPB will hence significantly augment the reach of the banking sector in India," said the statement.

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All the post office branches throughout the country will be linked to the IPPB system by December 31, 208, the statement read.

"The IPPB will offer a range of products such as savings and current accounts, money transfer, direct benefit transfers, bill and utility payments, and enterprise and merchant payments. These products, and related services, will be offered across multiple channels (counter services, micro-ATM, mobile banking app, SMS and IVR), using the bank's state-of-the-art technology platform," said the statement.

The IPPB started by opening two main branches, one at Ranchi and other at Raipur on January 2017. The new financial services will offer 4 per cent interest rate on saving accounts and banks can accept deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh per account.