14-Dec-2022: India Post Payment Bank

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is a scheduled payment bank offering a range of products such as savings and current accounts, remittances and money transfer, direct benefit transfer, bill and utility payments, enterprise & merchant payments and Aadhar Enabled Payment System (AePS). These products and related services are being offered across multiple channels e.g. Counter Services, Micro – ATM, Mobile Banking App, SMS and IVR and at the doorstep.

The funds are allocated by Department of Posts to IPPB centrally not State/UT-wise.

Presently IPPB under Department of Posts has 650 branches and 1.37 lakh banking access points through Post Offices network PAN India. New facilities are added as per the customer’s requirements from time to time.

The Department of Posts has set up India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) in the year 2018, which has enabled 1.38 lakh Post Offices to provide Banking services and has equipped nearly 1.9 lakh Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks with a smartphone and biometric device to provide doorstep banking Services including:

• Paperless & Instant account opening
• Savings accounts for citizens including Aadhaar Seeding for DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) beneficiaries
• Current Accounts for merchants
• Virtual Debit Card
• Cash Deposit/ Cash Withdrawal services
• Domestic Money Transfer services – Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT), Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Unified Payment Interface (UPI)
• Bill Payment services - Bill payment of utility bills, (Direct-to-Home) DTH/Mobile recharges, EMI (Equated Monthly Instalment) payments, insurance etc.
• Insurance services for IPPB customers – Life, Health, Vehicle insurance & Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)
• Post Office Savings Account (POSA) linkage with IPPB accounts
• Online Payment for Post Office Savings schemes – Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSA), Recurring Deposit (RD)
• Digital Life Certificate (DLC) services – Facilitate submission of DLC for any pensioners of central/state/ Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
• Aadhaar based services – Mobile Number update in Aadhaar for any citizen and Child Enrolment services for any child (0 - 5-year-old)
• Cash Management services – Collection of dues from customers of corporates/ government bodies

2-Nov-2022: India Post Payments Bank conducts India’s First Floating Financial Literacy Camp

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), stablished under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by the Government of India, conducted India’s First Floating Financial Literacy Camp with an initiative called ‘Niveshak Didi’ to promote Financial Literacy ‘By the women, for the women’, in Srinagar, J&K today.

India, being a large & growing economy, still finds it challenging to spread financial literacy across demography, as an enormous share of population still resides in rural areas. IPPB created a new legacy with the help of world’s largest postal network to extend its reach to the last mile and bridge financial inclusion gaps.

In a pursuit to carry the GoI mandate, IPPB initiated Financial Inclusion journey to resurgent rural India where reach and communication always remained a barrier. Right from the inception, Postmen/ Gramin Dak Sevaks have been reaching out to the masses in every corner of the country, offering digital banking services at their doorsteps.

To take the Financial Literacy drive ahead, IPPB, in collaboration with Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPFA) under the aegis of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), launched the initiative called ‘Niveshak Didi’ to promote Financial Literacy “By the women, for the women” concept. ‘Niveshak Didi’ initiative is based on the ideology of women for women as rural area women feel more comfortable to share their queries with a female itself. Three representatives ‘Niveshak Didi’ from the Kashmir valley were given certificates during the recent IEPFA Conference in Srinagar, J&K, by the Union Minister of State for Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Shri Rao Inderjit Singh and the Member of Parliament (Srinagar), Dr. Farooq Abdullah along with Smt. Anita Shah Akella, CEO IEPFA & JS MCA & other dignitaries from IEPFA, Department of Posts, India Post Payments Bank, CSC e-governance, Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Central Reserve Police Force.

As part of launch of ‘Niveshak Didi’ initiative, IPPB conducted India’s First Floating Financial Literacy Camp by a newly appointed ‘Niveshak Didi’. The Floating Financial Literacy Camp was conducted among the local residents around the world-famous Dal Lake of Srinagar, J&K. Since Shikara is part & parcel of their life, the gathering did take place on multiple Shikaras and the ‘Niveshak Didi’ held the Financial Literacy session in local Kashmiri language from Shikara itself, thus the whole session was conducted in the waters of Dal Lake.

Talking about the initiative, Shri Vineet Pandey, Secretary, Department of Posts, marked it “a tremendous step towards bridging the gap of financial inclusion. This first floating financial literacy camp ever held in India shows the ability of DoP team to reach far & wide to every household in the country, that too in various terrains & geographies & also paves the way for rural women population to increase their financial products and services comprehension, beware of frauds, and stay protected with the assistance of their own Niveshak Didi, in their own language”.

Speaking on the first floating financial literacy camp, Shri J Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank said, “Through Niveshak Didi, IPPB will attain next milestone surpassing the challenges faced by rural masses in terms of language and their basic understanding of financial products and services. Niveshak Didi, a female dakiya, having deep social connect to rural masses, will be able to collaborate and resolve their queries in a comfortable environment, at the same time enhancing the financial awareness, especially for the women”.

The floating financial literacy camp was conducted under supervision of Shri Gursharan Rai Bansal, Chief General Manager & Chief Sales & Marketing Officer and Shri Vishwanath Divya, Asst. General Manager (Marketing) along with IPPB & DoP team from Srinagar, J&K. The session covered topics ranging from banking and financial products, importance of joining the mainstream financial services offered by regulated entities & protection against various types of risks involved with investments and measures of fraud prevention. India Post Payments Bank looks forward to continue such efforts to deliver its mandate of enhancing financial empowerment to the last mile.

About IPPB

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by the Government of India. IPPB was launched by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most 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. IPPB’s reach and its operating model is built on the key pillars of India Stack - enabling Paperless, Cashless and Presence-less banking in a simple and secure manner at the customers' doorstep, through a CBS-integrated smartphone and biometric device. Leveraging frugal innovation and with a high focus on ease of banking for the masses, IPPB delivers simple and affordable banking solutions through intuitive interfaces available in 13 languages. IPPB is committed to provide a fillip to a less cash economy and contribute to the vision of Digital India. India will prosper when every citizen will have equal opportunity to become financially secure and empowered. Our motto stands true - Every customer is important; every transaction is significant, and every deposit is valuable.

19-Oct-2022: India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) Collaborate for innovations in Financial Product and Services

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) have come together to focus their efforts on enhancing the reach of financial solutions to large sections of society across India and enabling frictionless finance to a billion Indians.

Over the last thirty years, India has seen strong economic growth. In the last decade, the country has also witnessed rapid advancement and adoption of mobile technology at low data usage cost. However, there remain large sections of the population as well as micro and small businesses that have limited access to essential financial services and expertise. Universal access to finance is one of the critical requirements for society’s inclusive development. To this end, IPPB and RBIH will plan, design and execute innovative products and offerings to bridge the existing gap by bringing digitalised services at the customer’s doorstep.

The collaboration between IPPB and RBIH will explore projects which shall have impact on the masses by:

• Leveraging the deep rural reach of IPPB-Department of Posts (DoP) to take Rural Finance to a billion Indians.
• Enabling access to sustainable and secure finance services to every segment of the society, through research and innovation.

Additionally, IPPB shall be an active participant and partner with RBIH on initiatives of national importance led by RBIH

Shri Rajesh Bansal, CEO - RBIH, said “Customer centricity is at the heart of everything we do at RBIH. India’s strong digital stack offers us the unique opportunity to bring everyone into the country’s financial ambit. I am excited about the possibilities our collaboration with IPPB can open, and the impact we can create for the citizens of India, together!”

Speaking on the partnership, Shri J Venkatramu, MD & CEO, IPPB, said “Since its inception, IPPB has been committed towards promoting financial inclusion among low-income and under-banked segments at the last mile by leveraging the unparalleled network of Post Offices, and technology-driven banking solutions. The partnership with RBIH is a milestone in IPPB's journey to leverage its digital platform and physical network for providing comprehensive, customer-centric, and convenient digital solutions to a billion Indians”.

About RBIH: The Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) set up to promote and facilitate an environment that accelerates innovation across the financial sector. RBIH will provide the platform to anchor a shared vision among all financial ecosystem stakeholders and aid them in crafting forward-looking innovation strategies while addressing the most pressing issues in the Indian financial sector. The organisation serves as a focal point to position India as a global innovation hub for a network of financial services providers, fintech innovation hubs, policymakers, technologists, academia, and the investor community. The network will be empowered to ideate, incubate new capabilities, and enable access to sustainable, secure, and frictionless financial services for over a  billion Indians.

About IPPB: India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by the Government of India. IPPB was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most 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. IPPB’s reach and its operating model is built on the key pillars of India Stack - enabling Paperless, Cashless and Presence-less banking in a simple and secure manner at the customers' doorstep, through a CBS-integrated smartphone and biometric device. Leveraging frugal innovation and with a high focus on ease of banking for the masses, IPPB delivers simple and affordable banking solutions through intuitive interfaces available in 13 languages. IPPB is committed to provide a fillip to a less cash economy and contribute to the vision of Digital India. India will prosper when every citizen will have equal opportunity to become financially secure and empowered. Our motto stands true - Every customer is important; every transaction is significant, and every deposit is valuable.

22-Jul-2022: Task Force on Leveraging the Post Offices Network

In accordance with the recommendations of the Task Force on leveraging Post Office network, India Post Payments Bank was set up as 100% Government owned public limited company under Department of Posts. Further, Parcel Directorate was set up in the Department to handle Parcel business. The Department also entered into MoU with Common Service Centre - Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC-SPV) and more than 1.16 lakh Post Office-CSCs have been set up for rendering multiple Government to Citizen and Business to Citizen services. The Post Office Passport Seva Kendras and Post Office Aadhar Centres have been set up in accordance with the recommendations of this Task Force, and have benefitted crores of citizens.

The Post Office has now become a major arm of the Government for delivering multiple citizen centric services even in the remotest parts of the country.

28-May-2022: Digital payment facility for PLI & RPLI through IPPB Mobile Banking App & Micro-ATM launched by Secretary, Department of Posts

A two-day meet of senior functionaries of Department of Posts (DoP) and India Post Payments Bank(IPPB) concluded on a high note of creating force multipliers to create deeper impact to provide banking facility and providing new innovative products for every household in the country leveraging the distribution strength of Department of Posts combined with technology prowess & banking platform from India Post Payments Bank.

On day one of the meet, various new projects which are already rolled out and few others initiatives were introduced. Fincluvation which is a platform of start-ups to partner with IPPB-DOP to start providing Fintech solutions at the last mile was one of the highlights, whereas few new initiatives like Digitization of Branch Post Offices (BO) enabling Digital QR based payments through various UPI services is one step closer to transform Post Offices into Digital Banking Outlets.

Working on the vision of ‘One Nation One service Platform’ Shri J. Venkatramu , MD & CEO, IPPB shared his idea of serving the current 50 million and the next billion customers on basis of their life cycle need with the Products and services offerings from both DoP & IPPB.

On day 2, the much awaited digital premium payment facility for Postal Life Insurance & Rural Postal Life Insurance through IPPB Mobile Banking App, at doorstep with the help of Gramin Dak Sevaks/ Postman and at Post Office Counters was launched by Shri Vineet Pandey, Secretary , Department of Posts. IPPB will be offering new products like loan referrals & Cash Management Services soon. It will also work towards unlocking of potential IPPB-POSA linkage for seamless customer service.

AAROHAN 4.0 was concluded with a resolve to step into the market with a larger vision to become Universal Banking Platform with mandate of Financial Inclusion to serve every household in the country.

About India Post Payments Bank: India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India. IPPB was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most 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. IPPB’s reach and its operating model is built on the key pillars of India Stack - enabling Paperless, Cashless and Presence-less banking in a simple and secure manner at the customers' doorstep, through a CBS-integrated smartphone and biometric device. Leveraging frugal innovation and with a high focus on ease of banking for the masses, IPPB delivers simple and affordable banking solutions through intuitive interfaces available in 13 languages. IPPB is committed to provide a fillip to a less cash economy and contribute to the vision of Digital India. India will prosper when every citizen will have equal opportunity to become financially secure and empowered. IPPB's motto stands true - Every customer is important; every transaction is significant, and every deposit is valuable.

26-May-2022: Aarohan 4.0: Two days meet of senior functionaries of Postal Department and India Post payments Bank (IPPB) begins today

Two days meet of senior functionaries of Postal Department and India Post payments Bank (IPPB), AAROHAN 4.0 started today in Shimla. The agenda of the meeting is to discuss and deliberate ways to further deepen Financial Inclusion drive in the country and to provide banking solutions to every citizen of India. Postal Department along with IPPB is working on the vision of Prime Minister’ Digital India initiative to promote the digital payments and bring digital banking services to every nook and corner of the country in a customer friendly manner. IPPB leverages upon the world's largest postal network of Department of Posts to offer inter operable banking services at door step benefiting senior citizens, farmers, migrant labourers and women amongst others. The meeting was inaugurated by Shri. Alok Sharma, Director General Postal Services  in presence of Shri J Venkatramu, MD & CEO of IPPB, Chief PMG of 23 Postal Circles and other senior functionaries of the Department and IPPB. Discussions were held today to further strengthen the synergy between the post office and IPPB operations.

About India Post Payments Bank India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India. IPPB was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most 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. IPPB’s reach and its operating model is built on the key pillars of India Stack - enabling Paperless, Cashless and Presence-less banking in a simple and secure manner at the customers' doorstep, through a CBS-integrated smartphone and biometric device. Leveraging frugal innovation and with a high focus on ease of banking for the masses, IPPB delivers simple and affordable banking solutions through intuitive interfaces available in 13 languages. IPPB is committed to provide a fillip to a less cash economy and contribute to the vision of Digital India. India will prosper when every citizen will have equal opportunity to become financially secure and empowered. Our motto stands true - Every customer is important; every transaction is significant, and every deposit is valuable.

27-Apr-2022: Cabinet approves revised cost estimate on “Setting up of India Post Payments

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the revision of project outlay for setting up of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) from Rs.1435 crore to Rs.2255 crore as equity infusion to meet regulatory requirement.  The Cabinet also granted in principle approval for future fund infusion to the tune of Rs.500 crore for meeting regulatory requirements and technological upgradation.

The objective of the project is to build the most accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man; spearhead the financial inclusion agenda by removing the barriers for the unbanked and reduce the opportunity cost for the under banked populace through assisted doorstep banking.  The project supplement Government of India’s vision of “less cash” economy and at the same time promote both economic growth and financial inclusion.

India Post Payments Bank did a nationwide a launch by on September 1, 2018 with 650 branches/controlling offices.  IPPB has enable 1.36 lakh Post Offices to provide banking services and has equipped nearly 1.89 lakh Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks with smartphone and biometric device to provide doorstep banking services.

Since the launch of IPPB, it has opened more than 5.25 crore accounts with 82 crore aggregate number of financial transactions with Rs.1,61,811 crore which includes 765 lakh number of AePS transactions worth Rs.21,343 crore.  Out of the 5 crore accounts, 77% of accounts are opened in Rural areas, 48% are women customers with around Rs.1000 crore of deposit.  Nearly 40 lakh women customers received Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into their accounts valued at Rs.2500 crore.  More than 7.8 lakh accounts have been opened for school students.

In Aspirational Districts IPPB has opened around 95.71 lakh accounts having 602 lakh aggregate transaction worth Rs.19,487 crore.  In Left Wing Extremism (LWE) districts, 67.20 lakh accounts have been opened by IPPB having 426 lakh aggregate transactions worth Rs.13,460 crore.

Total financial expenditure involved under the proposal stands at Rs.820 crore.  The decision shall help India Post Payments Bank pursue its objective of furthering financial inclusion across India by leveraging the network of Department of Posts.

21-Apr-2022: India Post Payments Bank launches ‘Fincluvation’

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence & ongoing Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), a 100% government owned entity under Department of Posts (DoP) announced the launch of Fincluvation– a joint initiative to collaborate with Fintech Startup community to co-create and innovate solutions for financial inclusion.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Shri Ashwini   Vaishnaw,   Minister   of Railways, Communications and Electronics & IT, said, the country made rapid strides in FINTECH space in Global Tech world leading innovations like UPI, Aadhaar. “Fincluvation is a step in this direction, an Industry first initiative to create a powerful platform to mobilize the start-up community towards building meaningful financial products aimed at financial inclusion. Combination of IPPB’s Banking stack, DoP’s trustworthy doorstep service network and the techno-functional acumen of start-ups can deliver unmatched value to the citizens of the country.”

“Fincluvation will be a permanent platform of IPPB to co-create inclusive financial solutions with participating start-ups. IPPB and DoP collectively serve close to 430 million customers through neighbourhood post office and at their doorsteps via more than 400,000 trusted and capable Post Office employees and Gramin Dak Sevaks - making it one of the largest and trusted postal networks in the world”, said Shri Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications. Fincluvation invites startups to Participate, Ideate, Develop and Market intuitive and tailored products and services that can be taken to the customers. Startups are encouraged to develop solutions aligned with any of the following tracks-

• Creditization - Develop Innovative & Inclusive credit products aligned with the use cases of target customers and take them to their doorsteps through Postal network.
• Digitization - Bring convenience through convergence of traditional services with Digital Payment Technologies such as making the traditional Money Order service as Interoperable Banking service.
• Any Market-led solutions that can help solve any other problem relevant to IPPB and/or DoP in serving the target customers.

Intersection of technology with financial services coupled with traditional distribution networks is opening up new set of business opportunities. Conventional model of technology procurement led product creation by banks often lacks value in user experience leaving huge gap between customer expectations and service delivery. Traditional technology firms fail to meet these expectations with a deficit of ownership in product creation. “Our citizens have varied and complex needs that need careful thought, empathetic product design, and rapid prototyping among users. With Fincluvation, we want to crowd-in the best minds to develop technology-led financial solutions for Bharat”, said Shri Vineet Pandey, Secretary, Department of Posts & Chairperson, Postal Services Board.

Fincluvation will allow the start-ups to work with IPPB and DoP experts to develop solutions and conduct pilots using the postal network and IPPB’s technology stack. Successful pilots can then mature into long-term partnerships. “Through Fincluvation, we wanted to create a platform that can provide an opportunity for start-ups to work together with us in understanding the needs of the underserved customers to deliver products with a positive impact and more importantly in a cost effective manner”, said Shri J Venkatramu, MD & CEO, IPPB.

Fincluvation mentors will work closely with the startups to tweak products to the customer needs and align the go-to-market strategies with operating models of IPPB and DoP.

Start-ups can apply at Fincluvation page https://www.ippbonline.com/web/ippb/fincluvation.

About India Post Payments Bank: India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India. IPPB was launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most 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. IPPB’s reach and its operating model is built on the key pillars of India Stack - enabling Paperless, Cashless and Presence-less banking in a simple and secure manner at the customers' doorstep, through a CBS-integrated smartphone and biometric device. Leveraging frugal innovation and with a high focus on ease of banking for the masses, IPPB delivers simple and affordable banking solutions through intuitive interfaces available in 13 languages. IPPB is committed to provide a fillip to a less cash economy and contribute to the vision of Digital India. India will prosper when every citizen will have equal opportunity to become financially secure and empowered. Our motto stands true - Every customer is important; every transaction is significant, and every deposit is valuable.

25-Mar-2022: Penetration of IPPB into Rural Areas

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has enabled more than 1.36 lakh Post Offices to provide banking services. In addition, nearly 1.89 lakh Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) have been equipped with smartphones and biometric devices to provide doorstep banking services. This includes the facility of Bill Payment such as utility bills, Direct to Home (DTH)/Mobile recharges, Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) payments etc. through account debit or cash payment.

The linking of 1.5 lakh post offices to core banking system spread throughout the country, would enable the customers in rural areas in accessing financial services, ATM banking, internet banking etc. Further, customers in rural areas will be able to transfer the funds from post office savings accounts to bank accounts and vice versa.

18-Jan-2022: India Post Payments Bank's customer base crosses 5 Crore Mark

What was termed as the biggest initiative of financial inclusion in the country by the Prime Minister at its launch, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), a ‘Digital-First Bank’ built on the rails of wide physical distribution network of India Post under the Ministry of Communication, Government of India, has announced a major milestone since inception towards achieving its financial inclusion goals through digital banking.

Today, IPPB announced that it has crossed the five-crore customer mark in 3 years of commencement of operations to become one of the fastest growing digital payments bank in the country.

IPPB opened up these five crore accounts in digital and paperless mode through its

1.36 lakh Post Offices, out of which 1.20 lakh are in rural areas with the help of about 1.47 lakhs doorstep banking service providers. With this, IPPB has achieved the world’s largest digital financial literacy programme by building a financially aware and empowered customer-base leveraging the strength of 2,80,000 Post Office employees. IPPB has further stated that it has taken the digital banking to the grassroots-levels through Interoperable Payments and Settlement Systems of NPCI, RBI and UIDAI offering services in over 13 languages.

Interestingly, out of the total account holders, around 48% were women account holders; while 52% were male that indicated the Bank’s focus on bringing the women customers under the banking network. About 98% of accounts of women were opened at the doorsteps and over 68% of women were availing DBT benefits. In yet another milestone, IPPB revealed that it attracted youths to avail digital banking services. Over 41% of account holders were in the age group of 18 to 35 years.

Speaking about this landmark occasion, Shri Vineet Pandey, Secretary, Department of Posts said, “At India Post, we are committed towards becoming one of the largest financial inclusion networks in India, covering both urban and rural India. Reaching to five crore customers in a short span of 3 years speaks of the success of this model of providing cost – effective, simple, easy and secure digital ecosystem, particularly to rural India. We are happy that we could empower rural women too, to avail the banking services at their doorsteps.”

Shri J. Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank said, “It is a moment of pride for the Bank, as we have moved from strength to strength while building this customer base while providing uninterrupted banking and G2C services even during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Bank is able to scale its customer acquisition on a fully digital and paperless banking platform serving people at their doorstep. The bank is committed to serve the rural, under-banked and unbanked citizens through collaboration & co-creation of suitable products & services.”

With this view, IPPB has been able to leverage upon its parental strength of Department of Posts and is steadily transforming and reshaping the financial inclusion landscape across the country. In the near future, our endeavour is to build a unified service platform offering various citizen-centric financial services, including credit, at the doorstep by leveraging India stack such as JAM, Sahmati etc.

About India Post Payments Bank: India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India. IPPB was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most 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 the postal network. IPPB’s reach and its operating model is built on the key pillars of India Stack - enabling Paperless, Cashless and Presence-less banking in a simple and secure manner at the customers' doorstep, through a CBS-integrated smartphone and biometric device. Leveraging frugal innovation and with a high focus on ease of banking for the masses, IPPB delivers simple and affordable banking solutions through intuitive interfaces available in 13 languages. IPPB is committed to provide a fillip to a less cash economy and contribute to the vision of Digital India. India will prosper when every citizen will have equal opportunity to become financially secure and empowered. Our motto stands true - Every customer is important; every transaction is significant, and every deposit is valuable. For further information on IPPB, visit www.ippbonline.com

11-Nov-2021: India Post Payments Bank, Department of Posts in Strategic Alliance with Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance for Term and Annuity Products

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), Department of Posts and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company (BALIC) today announced a strategic partnership for offering term and annuity products to customers through the Bank’s extensive network of 650 branches and over 136,000 banking access points. The tie-up will enable customers, particularly from weaker sections and living in unbanked and underserved areas, to become financially secure and empowered, and is in line with IPPB’s objective of offering value added products and services to its customers.

The announcement was made during a media meet attended by Shri Pawan Kumar Singh, DDG – FS & PBI, Department of Posts (DoP); Shri J. Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank; and Shri Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company and other senior officials.

Bajaj Allianz Life Smart Protect Goal and Bajaj Allianz Life Guaranteed Pension Goal are the term and annuity products, which will be offered as per this strategic alliance. Bajaj Allianz Life Smart Protect Goal, a comprehensive and value-added term insurance product, is designed to give immediate financial support to a family in the event of an untimely death of the breadwinner. Bajaj Allianz Life Guaranteed Pension Goal, an annuity plan, aims to meet post retirement expenses as it offers guaranteed and fixed regular income till the person is alive. Both these products will be available to customers in addition to DoP’s existing PLI (Postal Life Insurance) & RPLI (Rural Postal Life Insurance) products.

Speaking about the partnership, Shri Vineet Pandey, Secretary, Department of Posts said, “At India Post, we are committed towards improving the lives of millions of people who do not have easy access to insurance and other financial services. This partnership will enable customers to manage their financial goals in an all-inclusive manner. Customers can continue to avail savings products of Postal Department, and simultaneously benefit from these term and annuity insurance products for fulfilling their long-term financial needs.”

Shri J. Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank said “Driven by the need to ensure financial security and meet unforeseen medical emergencies, life insurance has emerged as a significant investment tool in recent times. IPPB already offers Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana to its customers that aligns with Government’s mission of creating a universal social security net and making insurance affordable for underprivileged and disadvantaged sections. With these term and annuity insurance products, our successful relationship with Bajaj Allianz Life has expanded further. Through our deep and robust network of banking access points, and Gramin Dak Sevaks and Postmen, we are committed to offering comprehensive financial solutions to our customers.”

“As we continue to work towards enabling the life goals of people, we are honored to partner with IPPB and DoP who are trusted partners for millions of customers. This is a new milestone for us as we are the first life insurer to offer value-packed products to customers through IPPB’s and DoPs diverse network. We are confident that this partnership will play an integral role in increasing the adoption of life insurance across various customer segments. Our tech enabled services and enhancements towards this alliance are designed keeping our customer’s ease of experience and delight in mind.” said Mr. Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company.

Unique services that will be offered to DoP-IPPB-BALIC customers:

• Term & Annuity Products viz. Bajaj Allianz Smart Protect Goal & Bajaj Allianz Guaranteed Pension Goal of Both the products available on easy to sell POS platform.
• Term product viz. Bajaj Allianz Smart Protect Goal has option of return of premium on maturity.
• Annuity Product viz. Bajaj Allianz Guaranteed Pension Goal also offers return of purchase price as legacy upon death of annuitant
• 100% digital buy journey to ensure reach to the last mile and contribution to the digital literacy vision of Government of India

About India Post Payment Bank

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India. IPPB was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018. The bank has been set up with the vision to build the most accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man in India. The fundamental mandate of IPPB is to remove barriers for the unbanked & underbanked and reach the last mile leveraging a network comprising 155,000 post offices (135,000 in rural areas) and 300,000 postal employees.

About Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company

Bajaj Allianz Life is one of the leading private life insurance companies in India. The Company is a partnership between two powerful and successful entities in their own right – Bajaj FinServ Limited, one of India’s most diversified non-banking financial institution and Allianz SE, one of world’s leading asset manager and insurer.

Commencing its operations in 2001, Bajaj Allianz Life has in less than two decades expanded its presence across the country. It serves millions of customers through its 509 branches, 80,000+ agents (as on 30 June 2021), and comprehensive set of trusted partners and via its online sales channel.

7-Sep-2021: India Post Payments Bank, LIC Housing Finance announces Strategic Partnership for Offering Home Loan Products

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) under Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and LIC Housing Finance Ltd (LICHFL), the country’s premier housing finance player, today announced a strategic partnership for providing home loan products to over 4.5 crore customers of IPPB. Through its robust and extensive network of 650 branches and more than 136,000 banking access points, IPPB will make LICHFL’s home loan products accessible to its customers pan-India.

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding, credit underwriting, processing, and disbursement for all home loans will be handled by LICHFL with IPPB responsible for sourcing. The alliance with LICHFL is part of IPPB’s strategy to expand its range of products and services, and to cater to the banking and financial needs of diverse customers, especially unbanked and underserved, across the country. Currently, IPPB is distributing various general and life insurance products through partnerships with leading insurance companies, and credit products is a natural extension for the customers at the last mile. IPPB’s on-ground workforce of nearly 200,000 postal employees (Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks) equipped with micro-ATMs and biometric devices through its innovative Doorstep Banking Service will play a significant role in offering LICHFL’s housing loans.

On the significance of the tie-up with LICHFL, Mr. J. Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank said, “Easy access to credit for buying a house is an important prerequisite towards achieving inclusive growth. Since its inception till now and going forward, IPPB is committed towards promoting financial inclusion among low-income and underbanked segments at the last mile by leveraging the unparalleled network of Post Offices, and technology-driven banking solutions. The partnership with LICHFL is a significant tie-up in IPPB's journey to become one of the largest platforms for availing credit products by our customers for meeting various needs, in line with our focus on providing comprehensive customer-centric, convenient and digital solutions to our customers.”

Commenting on the partnership with IPPB, Mr. Y. Viswanatha Gowd, MD & CEO, LIC Housing Finance said, “The strategic MoU with IPPB will help us to further deepen our market penetration and enable us to increase LICHFL’s home loan product outreach in untapped geographies across the country. With an unmatchable presence of Post Offices, we see this strategic partnership as a significant step that will help our long-term business growth and improve our market share. This is in line with the Company’s objective to increase business contribution from Tier 2 markets and beyond.”

LIC Housing Finance Ltd, offers home loan starting from 6.66% for loans up to Rs 50 lakh for salaried individuals. The rate of interest offered is linked to the borrower’s creditworthiness, as reflected by their CIBIL scores.

LICHFL’s unique home loan product - Griha Varishtha- is designed for retired or serving employees of PSU insurers, Central/State government, railways, defence, banks etc. entitled to pension under Defined Benefit Pension Scheme. The age of the borrower at entry of the loan can be up to 65 years and the loan tenure is till the attainment of 80 years of age or maximum up to 30 years, whichever is earlier. Under this product LIC HFL offers EMI waiver of up to 6 EMIs during the tenure of the loan to the borrower.

1-Apr-2020:  34 lakh transactions effected through POSB (Post Office Savings Bank) and 6.5 lakh transactions through IPPB(India Post Payments Bank) till date during lockdown period

During the lockdown period as on 31.03.2020, 34 lakh transactions were effected through POSB (Post Office Savings Bank) and 6.5 lakh transactions were effected through IPPB(India Post Payments Bank).

Around 2 lakh accountable mails including speed post registered letters, parcels and money-orders were delivered.

Mobile Post Offices are functioning in various circles like Kerala, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and some other circles to provide essential postal and financial services. The routes of these mobile post offices are decided depending upon requirements.

The Department of Posts is also moving ventilators, COVID-19 Test Kits and other medical equipments as per requests of various organisations from selected locations to destinations across the country by using cargo airlines and its own mail motor network.  Circles are getting in touch with State authorities to offer these services. Ventilators were dispatched through postal network from Puducherry to Odisha State Medical Corporation and Gujarat State Medical Corporation.   On-line medicine company netmeds.com and e-commerce company Amazon have also approached India Post for delivery of medicine and essential commodities in metros and some other locations

The Telangana Circle has tied up with the Health Department for distribution of medical kits.  Gujarat Circle has dispatched consignment of medical supplies and essential medicines to Surat, Bharuch, Valsad, Rajkot, Jaipur, Pune and Kolkata in partnership with Indian Drug Manufacturing Association ( IDMA).

Medicines have been transported by the road transport network from Kolkata to Siliguri, Ranchi and Patna.

Under the Ganga Swaroop Yojana, a scheme of Government of Gujarat for payment of benefits to widows, Gujarat Circle has drawn an extensive mechanism to ensure such payments in rural and semi-urban areas to widow beneficiaries.  An amount of Rs.51 crores has been credited in 4 lakh Post Office Saving Bank Accounts and its disbursement will commence from 3rd of April. Telangana Circle will also be disbursing an amount of Rs.509 crores under the ASARA social security scheme of the State Govt. to old age, disabled and widow pension beneficiaries.

The Circles are partnering with the various district administrations and NGOs to provide logistic support for delivery of food items and dry rations to reach out to the needy.

Circles have created telegram groups and helpline numbers to escalate requests of public representatives such as Panchayat Secretary, telemedicine centres, village officers and Health Inspectors and individual customer to the control room.  The Department has been servicing requests for dispatch of medicines and essential items received on its Twitter sewa handle.  All efforts are being made to service these request promptly and ensure delivery within the shortest possible time.

1-Sep-2018: PM launches India Post Payments Bank – a major initiative towards financial inclusion

The Prime Minister launched the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi. The function was witnessed at over 3000 locations across the country, which were connected to the main event in Delhi.

Through the India Post Payments Bank, banking services will conveniently reach the remotest places in the country, and the people living there. The Union Government had earlier rolled out the Jan Dhan Yojana to establish financial inclusion. IPPB is one more step to achieve this objective. IPPB branches have opened across 650 districts today.

The postman has long been a respected and accepted person in the villages. The trust on the postman remains, despite the advent of modern technology. The Government’s approach is to reform existing frameworks and structures, and hence, transform them in accordance with the changing times. There are over 1.5 lakh post offices and over three lakh postmen or “Grameen dak sevaks” who are connected to the people of the country. Now they shall be empowered with smartphones and digital devices to provide financial services.

IPPB will enable money transfer, transfer of government benefits, bill payments and other services such as investment and insurance. Postmen would deliver these services at the doorstep. IPPB will also facilitate digital transactions, and help deliver the benefits of schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which provide assistance to farmers.

Since 2014, the Union Government has been dealing firmly with the distortions and problems that had arisen in India’s banking sector due to indiscriminate loan advances. Existing loans have been reviewed and a professional approach has been taken with regard to the banking sector. Other measures such as the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill are also taken to ensure that the guilty are punished.

Now Mudra loans worth over 13 lakh crore rupees have been given to the poor and middle class, for creating self-employment opportunities. As India achieves its best ever Asian Games performance, and the economy shows excellent growth numbers, the entire country is full of new self-confidence. This is the result of the collective efforts of the people. India is not just the fastest growing economy in the world, but also the country that is eradicating poverty the fastest.

3 lakh “dak sevaks” would be the key to provide financial services to every home, every farmer and every small enterprise in the villages. In recent months, several steps have been taken for the welfare of “dak sevaks” and to meet their long pending demand. These have led to a substantial increase in their salary. IPPB will reach over 1.5 lakh post offices across the country within the next few months.