Paytm will soon be launching its payments bank after it received the final approval of the Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday.
Payments banks can accept deposits from individuals and small businesses up to Rs 1 lakh per account.
When contacted, a Paytm spokesperson said the company hopes to launch operations in February with the first branch coming up in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
“Today (Tuesday), Reserve Bank of India gave permission to formally launch Paytm Payments Bank. We can't wait to bring it in front of you... I intend to take a full-time executive role in the Bank,” Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder of One97 Communications, said in a blogpost.
He added that at Paytm Payments Bank, the aim is to build a new business model in banking industry, focussed on bringing financial services to hundreds of millions of unserved or underserved Indians.
With the objective of deepening financial inclusion, RBI kicked off an era of differentiated banking by allowing SFBs (Small Finance Banks) and PBs (Payments Banks) to start services.
A total of 21 entities were given in-principle nod last year, including 11 for payments banks.
Currently, Airtel is the only player that has commenced Payments Bank operations. Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank is expected to launch services in the first half of 2017.
(With inputs from PTI)
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