India Post Payments Bank -- the Payments Bank floated by the postal department -- has received the RBI's final nod to commence commercial operations.

As a differentiated bank, it will confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services and other specified services.

A payments bank can accept deposits up to Rs 1 lakh per account from individuals.

The Centre has also appointed A.P.Singh, who was earlier Joint Secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, as the interim managing director and CEO of IPPB.

Singh was also the Deputy Director-General in-charge of financial inclusion and payment systems in the founding team of UIDAI.

India Posts Payments Bank has been set up as a company, which is wholly owned by the Indian Government.

In 2015, RBI had granted 'in-principle' approval to 11 entities, including the Department of Posts, to set up payments banks.

Since then three companies/ consortiums had backed out and dropped their plans to start payments banks.

Of the remaining eight, Airtel was the first to launch its payments bank with an initial investment of Rs 3,000 crore.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

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