Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said it is not necessary that people open accounts only with banks, they can do so by tapping a variety of other avenues too.

He pointed out that the proposed guidelines for small finance banks and payments banks will offer such avenues.

“Account need not be only at the bank. In the weeks to come we will put out guidelines for new entities called payment banks, the basic intent of this exercise will be to offer accounts to the excluded,” Rajan added.

We visualise, Rajan said, mobile companies, firms with a large rural presence, and the postal department applying for payment bank licences.

Can take deposits The RBI Governor also said that with the idea to facilitate small lending — to underserved people, micro, small and even medium enterprises — the RBI will come out with guidelines for small finance banks by the month-end.

Explaining the scope of small finance banks, Rajan said, such banks will be allowed to take deposits.

“This licence will also offer an avenue for successful microfinance institutions to migrate towards a banking licence without abandoning the core business of working with the small and the excluded.

“I am hopeful that we will issue the call for applications for both small finance banks and payments banks,” he added.

The guidelines are currently with the Government for comments.

Cash management Rajan said the RBI is thinking of ways to modernise the existing cash management system.

The modernised system, he said, will also interact with the last mile usage of cash. He said while serving the bottom of the pyramid, entities must not look at more than reasonable profits.

He made this observation in the context of a few ideas which have propagated that there is “fortune” to be made by servicing those at the bottom of the pyramid.

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