Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Reliance Industries are among the 11 companies granted licences in India to set up payments banks. The Reserve Bank of India gave “in-principle” approval to 11 applicants to set up payments banks. The other recipients include Tech Mahindra, Aditya Birla, Fino PayTech and the Department of Posts.
Shares of Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra were in demand today as these companies got Reserve Bank’s nod to set up non-lending payments banks as part of the financial inclusion drive.
Bharti Airtel was up 2.34 per cent to Rs 392.10, while Tech Mahindra gained 2.83 per cent to Rs 575.90 on BSE. Shares of Aditya Birla Nuvo climbed 3.23 per cent to Rs 2,335. Payments bank license will allow companies to collect deposits (initially up to Rs 1 lakh per individual), offer Internet banking, facilitate money transfers and sell insurance and mutual funds.
Besides, they can issue ATM/debit cards, but not credit cards.