Airtel Payments Bank

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Airtel Payments Bank Limited
IndustryFinancial services
Founded2017
HeadquartersNew Delhi India
Area served
India
Key people
Anubrata Biswas (MD, CEO)[1]
ProductsBanking
OwnerBharti Airtel (80.01%)
Kotak Mahindra Bank (19.9%)
Websitewww.airtel.in/bank/

Airtel Payments Bank is an Indian payments bank with its headquarters in New Delhi. The company is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel.[2]

History[edit]

In 2015, eleven companies received In-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to set up payments bank under the guidelines for Licensing of Payments Bank. Airtel was one of them, and it launched Airtel Payments Bank in September 2016. Airtel's first payments bank went live with its pilot project in Rajasthan in November 2016.[3]

The bank's capital at its establishment was 3,000 crore ($441 million). Airtel Payments Bank reported deposits of ₹68.33 crore at the end of the financial year ended 31 March 2017, which was its first year of operation.[4][5]

On 11 April 2016, it became the first company to receive the payments bank license from the Reserve Bank of India under Section 22 (1) of Banking Regulation Act, 1949.[6] Airtel Payments Bank is a 80:20 partnership between Bharti Airtel and Kotak Mahindra Bank.[7]

Services[edit]

Digital payments[edit]

In September 2017, Airtel Payments Bank launched UPI enabled digital payments to facilitate secure digital payments. Customers need to link their bank accounts on BHIM before they can make UPI payments. For UPI-based payments and transfers, customers are not required to furnish their bank details to enable transactions.[8]

Airtel Money is a digital wallet by Airtel Payment Bank that allows users to make payments using "My Airtel app" or USSD.[9]

Insurance and pension[edit]

In July 2019, Airtel Payments Bank partnered with Bharti AXA General Insurance.[10][11] Airtel Payments Bank and Bharti Axa Life Insurance have started to provide government's insurance plan Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana in August 2018.[12][13] In 2019, Airtel Payments Bank started offering Atal Pension Yojana (a Government of India initiative) through its platform.[14]

Legal challenges[edit]

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) suspended Bharti Airtel and Airtel Payment Bank's licence for eKYC of Aadhar on 16 December 2017, following complaints from customers that their accounts were being opened without their consent. Some even received their LPG subsidies in their Airtel Payment Bank accounts.[15] However, on July 12, 2018, Airtel Payments Bank received requisite approvals from the Reserved Bank of India and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to resume on-boarding new customers using of Aadhaar-based e-KYC.[16]

Financials[edit]

In 2018-19, Airtel Payments Bank reported a loss of ₹338 crore,[17] while it registered a loss of ₹272 crore in the financial year 2017-18.[18] In FY 20, its revenues rose 87% to ₹474 crore.[19]

Awards[edit]

  • IAMAI 7th India Digital Awards for Money Transfer Programme 2017[20]
  • Asian Banker Risk Management Award 2018[21]

References[edit]

  1. "Airtel Payments Bank ropes in Anubrata Biswas as its chief executive". telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  2. Jain, Upasana (23 November 2016). "Airtel launches India's first payments bank". livemint.com.
  3. "Airtel Payments Bank goes live with pilot project in Rajasthan". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  4. Pahwa, Nikhil (2017-07-04). "Airtel Payments Bank reports deposits of Rs 690.33 crore at end of FY17". MediaNama. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  5. "Bharti Airtel to spend $441 million to set up payments bank". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  6. "Airtel M-Commerce Services Ltd rechristened as Airtel Payments Bank Ltd Company unveils new brand identity". Bharti.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  7. "Airtel Payments Bank launched, with vow to shake up old banking system". mint. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  8. "Airtel Payments Bank launches UPI enabled digital payments". The Economic Times. 17 September 2017.
  9. Verma, Pallavi Arun. "Airtel Payments Bank UPI – the easiest and fastest way to transfer money". The Economic Times.
  10. "Airtel Payments Bank partners with Bharti AXA Life to offer term insurance". The Economic Times. 2 July 2019.
  11. "Airtel Payments Bank partners with Bharti AXA Life to offer pure term insurance". @businessline.
  12. Dua, Priyanka (16 August 2018). "Airtel Payments Bank join hands with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer Rs. 2 lakh insurance cover". gizbot.com/.
  13. "Bharti AXA, Airtel Payments Bank team up to offer Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana - ET Telecom". ETTelecom.com.
  14. "Airtel Payments Bank launches Aadhaar-enabled payment service: Report". MediaNama. 2020-03-02. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  15. "UIDAI suspends Airtel, Airtel Payments Bank's eKYC licence". The Indian Express. 16 December 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  16. Gupta, Komal (12 July 2018). "Airtel Payments Bank gets RBI nod to resume enrolling customers". livemint.
  17. "Airtel Payment Bank loss widens to ₹339 crore in FY19, revenue jumps 59%". Business Today. August 19, 2019.
  18. Merwin, Radhika (September 10, 2019). "Why five out of the 11 payments banks have shut shop". The Hindu Business Line.
  19. "Airtel Payments Bank's revenue up 87% in FY20". Livemint. June 28, 2020.
  20. "IMAI Digital Awards 2017". IAMAI.
  21. "The Asian Banker Risk Management Awards". asianbankerawards.com.

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