Posted by New Delhi: FSS amd IPPB (India Post Payments Bank) have forged partnership to promote financial inclusion among underserved and unbanked segments.
Under the FSS and IPPB tie-up, IPPB will use FSS’ Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) to deliver interoperable and affordable doorstep banking services to customers across India.
FSS’ AePS solution combines the low-cost structure of a branchless business model, digital distribution, and micro-targeting that lowers acquisition costs and improves reach.
This tie-up offers huge opportunities to bring millions of unbanked customers into the financial mainstream. A primary reason for low usage of banking and payment services is the challenge of accessibility in rural areas and the cost of maintaining active accounts — including transaction and transport— outweigh the benefits.
In rural and peri-urban areas, the average time to reach a banking access point potentially ranges between 1.5 and 5 hours, compared with the average of 30 minutes in urban areas.
IPPB has a vast network of over 136,000 post offices with 300,000 postal workers that work to deliver banking at the customer’s doorstep.
With the launch of AePS services, IPPB now has the ability to serve all customer segments, including nearly 410 million Jan Dhan account holders, giving a fresh impetus to the inclusion of customers facing accessibility challenges in the traditional banking ecosystem.
“We are proud to be IPPB’s technology partner in this monumental nation-building exercise,” said Krishnan Srinivasan, Global Chief Revenue Officer, FSS (Financial Software and Systems).
The collaboration, according to Srinivasan is evidence of FSS’ deep payments technology expertise and commitment to bringing viable, market-leading innovations that promote financial deepening.
“FSS’ AePS solution combined with IPPB’s expansive last mile distribution reach empowers citizens of the country with a range of digital payment products,” added Srinivasan.
“IIPB is uniquely positioned to offer a range of products and services to fulfil the financial needs of the unbanked and the underbanked at the last mile,” said J. Venkatramu, MD & CEO, India Post Payments Bank.
“Having launched AePS services, the Bank has become the single largest platform in the country for providing interoperable banking services to customers of any bank,” added Venkatramu.
The FSS and IPPB partnership, according to Venkatramu provides an opportunity to expand the portfolio of financial services and improve the customer experience whilst maintaining operational efficiency, thus building a digitally inclusive society.