Airtel M-Commerce Services, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel (Airtel), on Tuesday said it has been renamed as Airtel Payments Bank Ltd after receiving the necessary approvals from all concerned authorities.
The company also unveiled a new logo to reflect its new identity.
On April 11, Airtel Payments Bank Ltd received a payments bank licence from the Reserve Bank of India. The company plans to start rolling out its banking network in the second quarter of the current financial year, it said in a statement.
The company plans to leverage Airtel’s national distribution network in the rural areas and offers a platform to deliver banking services to the last mile.
Currently, the Airtel distribution channel is spread across 15-lakh outlets with a network presence in 5,126 census and 4,64,361 non-census towns and villages in India covering around 87 per cent of the country’s population.
Kotak Mahindra Bank has acquired 19.90 per cent stake in Airtel Payments Bank Ltd for a consideration of around Rs 98.8 crore. Kotak is expected to bring its banking expertise to the venture, the company said.
“The new identity reflects our strong focus on the payments bank segment and our commitment to the government’s vision of financial inclusion and banking services for every citizen,” Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (India and South Asia), Airtel said.
“We believe that Airtel Payments Bank is uniquely placed to deliver quality banking services to customers by leveraging the power of mobile telephony,” he added.
Airtel Payments Bank Ltd (which began operations in 2011 as Airtel M-Commerce Services Ltd) currently provides money transfer services and semi-closed wallet services (Airtel Money). The company has a presence in 800-plus towns across India.