Will IPPB Become A Full-Fledged Bank?

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) wants to convert itself to a universal bank as the vast network of post office branches would help in achieving financial inclusion, its MD and CEO J Venkatramu said on Tuesday.

“Given the network of post offices, probably we fit the bill in terms of being the institution which can reach every nook and corner. If we get a full-fledged banking licence, especially for financial inclusion, that will help us serve larger goals,” news agency PTI quoted Venkatramu as saying.

He was replying to a question about the bank approaching the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a universal bank licence.

Venkatramu said when the IPPB started operations, 80% of the transactions would happen in cash. However, with technology adoption, presently only 20% of the transaction happens in cash and 80 per cent digitally.

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He said credit is an important facet of financial inclusion as well as social upliftment, the vast network of post offices could help in financial inclusion and extending credit.

IPPB was incorporated on August 17, 2016, under the Companies Act, 2013 as a public limited company with 100 per cent government of India equity under the Department of Posts.

Launched in 2018, IPPB has been set up with the vision to build accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man in India.

The fundamental mandate of IPPB is to remove barriers for the unbanked and under-banked and reach the last mile leveraging a network comprising 160,000 post offices (145,000 in rural areas) and 400,000 postal employees.

As a payment bank under the RBI, IPPB can extend services of deposits, remittances, internet banking and other specified services, but they cannot give loans or issue credit cards.

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