India Post Payments partners HDFC Bank for services in semi-urban, rural areas

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and HDFC Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding for offering latter’s various banking products and services to customers of the payments bank in semi-urban and rural areas, focussing on unbanked and underserved segments.

Over 4.7 crore customers of IPPB of whom nearly 90 per cent are residing in rural areas are expected to benefit from this partnership.

The strategic alliance will enable IPPB to provide affordable and diversified offerings, including access to finance, to its customers through its innovative Doorstep Banking Service. With nearly 2 lakh postal service providers (Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks) equipped with microATMs and biometric devices, IPPB caters to the needs and requirements of various customer segments but is also committed to making digital adoption easier at the last mile by enabling an assisted banking model. With this partnership, HDFC Bank aims to further strengthen its financial inclusion drive by leveraging the robust and extensive distribution network of IPPBs 650 branches and over 136,000 banking access points across India.

Commenting on the MoU, J Venkatramu, Managing Director & CEO, India Post Payments Bank, said, “By bringing banking at the doorsteps of customers, IPPB is steadily transforming and reshaping the financial inclusion landscape across the country. Our endeavour is to build a unified platform offering various citizen-centric services including, credit at the doorstep by leveraging digital technologies and alternate data sources in collaboration with lending partners. This important partnership with HDFC Bank is a step in that direction of promoting an inclusive, digitally-driven and social banking ecosystem.”