New Delhi: Enthused by the grant of payments bank licence, the successful applicants Wednesday said they would launch the services ahead of the 18-month deadline prescribed by the Reserve Bank.
Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, one of the successful applicants, said he would like to start the banking operation ahead of the fixed timeline by the RBI.
"We definitely want to launch payment bank much earlier than 18 months. We believe that we can go standalone. We won't need anybody else as far as money is concerned," Sharma said.
"With this nod from the RBI we will be able to further drive overall commitment to financial inclusion for the unbanked segment, modernise payment systems and build more trust for our services," he added.
NSDL CEO & MD G V Nageswara Rao said the firm would like "to go alone but keeping options open".
"We don't have any specific timeline to share with you but the real work starts now," he said.
It is definitely going to be different niches which different people are going to pick and it will help promote financial inclusion, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Managing Director Vellayan Subbiah said.
Sun Pharma promoter Dilip Shanghvi along with Telenor Group and IDFC, an infrastructure financial institution, applied and emerged successful bidder out of 41 entities.
"We believe that payment bank facilities is a step in the direction of enabling last-mile connectivity to consumers by offering convenience of carrying banking transactions at their doorstep. We will provide further details at a later stage," Dilip Shanghvi Family & Associates (DSA) said in a statement.
DSA is the main promoter in the application along with Telenor Group and IDFC.
Vodafone India MD & CEO Sunil Sood said in a statement the licence will enable the firm to build on this further and "offer a more comprehensive portfolio of banking and financial products and services, accelerating India's journey into a cashless economy".
Telecom major Airtel in a statement said Airtel M Commerce Services will play a pivotal role in bringing millions of unbanked Indians into the folds of banking.
The RBI today granted 'in-principle' approval to 11 entities including Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Department of Posts and Tech Mahindra, to set up payments banks and proposes 'on tap' such licences in future.
Commenting on payments bank licence, SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said the Reserve Bank has granted licence to Reliance Industries in which SBI has proposed a 30 percent stake.
"We see this licence as an opportunity to promote financial inclusion by providing banking and transaction services to unbanked, under-banked and small businesses," she added.
Tech Mahindra's MD & CEO C P Gurnani said as of now, his company and the group's financial services arm Mahindra Finance will have an equal partnership for the payments bank, but it is also open to inducting partners with expertise in core banking and outreach to the masses.
When asked about reports of a tie-up with World Bank group entity IFC, he parried the question.
Fino PayTech's chief executive Rishi Gupta said the company will now be hitting the street to raise capital for the payments bank, and exuded confidence that it will not be difficult as it is already involved in the payments space.
He said his company will be investing Rs 300 crore for the bank and is confident of breaking-even in three years.
Consultancy firm PwC's leader for banking and capital markets Shinjini Kumar said the RBI has gone for deep pockets considering the requirement of higher capital for network expansion and aspirants with already existing client base like telecom operators while selecting the successful candidates.
She said the selection of telcos like Vodafone, Airtel and Aditya Birla group (which runs the Idea Cellular) also makes RBI's wishes of having a deeper penetration very apparent.
Airtel's partner Kotak Mahindra Bank's joint managing director Dipak Gupta said that both the companies will now be firming up their business model and added that a bulk of the work like marketing, distribution etc will be done by the telco, which is the larger partner in the venture.
"The issuance of payments bank licences to as many as 11 players with experience across different sectors is a big positive for the banking sector," said S Ravi, chartered accountant and independent director on boards of several companies including banks.
This will allow banking services to reach segments where traditional banking is yet to make a mark and is expected to give more impetus to the government's Jan Dhan programme, he added.
