Shabnam Sinha is set to take over as the Chairperson of Airtel Payments Bank for a three-year term starting October 1, 2026, succeeding Sunil Mittal, who concludes his tenure as non-executive Chairman.
Experts contend that this setback, even if temporary, could put the company at a disadvantage to its competitors in acquiring new customers.
Most public sector banks, flush with deposits now, offer 3-4% interest on savings deposits, while a few private sector banks go up to 6%.
CEO Shashi Arora discusses his roadmap for Airtel Payments Bank with Karan Choudhury.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has partnered with Airtel Payments Bank to launch co-branded RuPay National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC), enabling seamless payments across various transit networks nationwide.
'The transition from payment banks to SFBs is only permissible for banks not owned by corporate entities.'
Fino Payments Bank (Fino) has become the first such entity to get an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to transition into a small finance bank (SFB).
Payments banks have urged the Union finance ministry to increase their deposit limit for each account to Rs 5 lakh, according to a source who participated in a meeting, chaired by the Department of Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju, in New Delhi. At present, they can accept deposits of up to Rs 2 lakh.
'The Rs 35,000 crore of capex every year, I don't get to sign 35 paise out of this.'
Bharti Airtel aims to leverage its 180 million plus digital service customers and its wide presence in rural areas to grow its payment bank business. "We are well placed as we can leverage the 180 million plus customers we have across our digital assets. "We offer a plethora of services such as lucrative interest rates, gift cards, FASTag, telecom recharges, payments and debit cards. "Our large merchant base of more than eight million allows us to drive both engagement and monetisation.
The Indian government has introduced a 0.4% Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) on UPI person-to-merchant (P2M) transactions exceeding Rs 2,000, effective October 15. This move ends nearly six years of fully free UPI payments, though person-to-person (P2P) transfers and small P2M payments remain free. The charges aim to bolster investment in UPI infrastructure, with specific exemptions and caps for essential sectors.
Kotak Mahindra Bank to have a 19.9% stake in the proposed banking venture.
Priyadarshini Maji evaluates the impact that payment banks are likely to have on your financial life.
Airtel Africa's mobile payments arm, Airtel Money, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange, with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) agreeing to purchase shares worth up to $90 million at the final offer price.
RBI's exercise will take into account standards of governance, the viability of the payment bank (PB) business model, and changes, if any, if needed.
Payments banks are expecting to get the rights to offer small-ticket loans sometime soon, according to an industry source familiar with the matter. The industry has been in talks with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for some time in seeking lending rights.
The Indian government has introduced a 0.4% transaction fee on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments exceeding Rs 2,000 for merchants, effective October 15, marking the end of nearly six years of free service. Person-to-person transfers and small-value transactions below Rs 2,000 remain free. The new Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) is capped at Rs 300 for transactions above Rs 75,000, with differentiated rates for essential sectors and investments, and safeguards to prevent costs from being passed to consumers.
Currently, only three have completed more than six months of operation in the space - Fino Payments Bank, Airtel Payments Bank and Paytm
While payments banks surely lose money, their operating ratios were looking better in 2017-18 compared to the year before. This implies that as customer volumes start picking up, the business models may perk up too, says R Jagannathan.
Telenor Financial Services, IDFC Bank and Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi have decided to withdraw their licence to set up a payments bank.
Many users did not know that their entitlement was not coming to their regular bank account but going to an account which they had not applied for.
It will carry out most banking operations like accepting deposits but can't advance loans or issue credit cards.
Non-resident individuals (NRIs) have also been allowed to apply for the niche banking licence, provided they plan to return to India.
Telecoms investor Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd and retailer Future Group were among the first big names to apply for licenses to run so-called payments banks
A total of 41 companies had applied for the permit
Jaitley said banking network is expanding hugely and the health of banks reflects on the challenges for the economy.
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Of the 11 licence holders, only eight remain in the fray as concerns about profitability and rising competition are making them think twice before jumping in.
The board is likely to take up the matter this month.
In August, RBI allowed 11 business houses to start a payments bank.
Regulators will need to allow the model to evolve to allow profits to flow, says Una Gulani.
Payment banks may not be viable option to attain financial inclusion.
The Department of Posts was one of the 11 entities to get the in-principle nod from the Reserve Bank of India in 2015 for setting up a payments bank.
Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded in early trade on Thursday, recovering from a sharp fall in the previous session, driven by foreign fund inflows and buying in key blue-chip stocks. Track Sensex, Nifty on July 9, 2026.
Last August, RBI gave in-principle approval to 11 applicants.
The company will transfer its wallet business, which has over 218 million mobile wallet users, to the newly incorporated entity -- PPBL -- under the payments bank licence awarded to Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of One97 Communications that owns Paytm.
Last year, the software giant launched a cloud adoption programme for SMBs.
The payments banks are intended to house transactional accounts for individuals, focusing on payments and remittances.
Bharti Airtel sees opportunity in raising tariff for data services as it feels that rich are paying less and poor are not required to pay anymore, a senior official of the company said. During the company's earnings call for the first quarter of the current fiscal, Bharti Airtel vice-chairman and MD Gopal Vittal said that the company has written to the government for a relief on adjusted gross revenue and has demanded that it should be given benefit at par with other telecom operator, without naming Vodafone Idea.
On government's last week's announcement of revamping of PSU banks, Fitch Ratings said the move is "credit positive, but risks remain".
NPCI BHIM Services Ltd is expanding the BHIM app to feature phones to increase financial inclusion and diversify revenue through financial product distribution. The app aims to double its market share and is focusing on partnerships with banks and new features like UPI Circle.
