Is India Post Payments Bank the next gem among government-owned companies?
Riding on a vast network of post offices and government patronage, the state-owned payments bank hopes to break even this fiscal and go public in the near future.
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Editor's note: Last year, F, an engineer based in Mumbai’s Trombay suburb, decided to become an agent for the India Post Payments Bank. His hole-in-the-wall banking services outlet has since become a crucial part of the lives of his tenement’s residents, most of whom are either daily wage earners or support staff at the nearby refinery. “I have opened more than 100 bank accounts, enrolled people for Aadhaar cards and conduct 200 to 300 transactions a day,” says F. “Most of the customers do not know how a passbook works. They cannot do ATM transactions, so I have become important to them. They trust me for all their transactions.” In another Mumbai neighborhood, C is about to have lunch with his colleagues at an India Post Payments Bank branch. “Three years ago, we were completely focused on rural areas, but we realized there are a lot of people from the lower strata of society in metros who also need financial inclusion and access to welfare benefits. We are designed as a financial inclusion bank,” he says. F and C, who asked not …
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