FM launches India’s first payments bank

Arun Jaitley, Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister formally launched Airtel Payments Bank’s national operations, marking a major milestone in the history of India’s financial services sector. Also present were Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Uday Kotak, Executive VC&MD, Kotak Mahindra Bank; Gopal Vittal, MD&CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel; and Shashi Arora, MD-CEO, Airtel Payments Bank.   

Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “Airtel has been at the forefront of India’s digital transformation and has empowered over 260 million customers with affordable telecom services. With Airtel Payments Bank, we are starting another important chapter in our journey, with the potential to truly transform lives and contribute to financial inclusion in the country. Just like mobile telephony leapfrogged traditional telecom networks to take affordable telecom services deep into the country, Airtel Payments Bank aims to take digital banking services to the unbanked over their mobile phones in a quick and efficient manner. 

Millions of Indians in rural areas will get their first formal banking experience with Airtel Payments Bank.”