'India Post will launch payment bank by March 2017'

New Delhi, Dec 28: Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday said India Post would be launching its payment bank by March 2017. He was speaking at the iugural session of a week-long celebration of Good Governce Week organized by department of electronics and information technology. Earlier the minister said Japanese company Hitachi is interested in partnering with the postal department for payment bank solutions.

The Reserve Bank of India granted in-principle approval to 11 applicants in August to set up payments banks. According to the apex bank’s guidelines, payments banks would offer a limited range of products such as demand deposits and remittances. The event saw launch of 23 products and services, including pan-India free incoming roaming facility for MTNL customers. (IANS)