India Post’s payment bank is slated for a March 2017 launch.

To seek Cabinet nod for India Post payment bank this month: Ravi Shankar Prasad 

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has moved a Cabinet note on India Post’s payment bank proposal and is likely to seek the approval of the Union Cabinet this month. India Post’s payment bank is slated for a March 2017 launch.

“The postal department’s payment bank will be a game changer for financial inclusion. Several international and national consortiums for third party services are keen to partner with us. Deutsche Bank, Citi Bank, Barclays, Templeton and all the banks of India and all mutual funds and insurance companies, except LIC, for third party delivery, are willing to partner,” Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad told The Indian Express.

The domestic players in the fray for partnering India Post include NABARD, HSBC, Allahabad Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Kotak Life Insurance, HDFC, PNB Metlife, ICICI Lombard, ICICI Prudential, and Bajaj Allianz, while the international ones, apart from Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Citi and Templeton, include Transport USA for renting solutions, Western Union, ClearSecurity and Japan’s Hitachi.

Source: indianexpress.com