HARYANA: Telecom company Bharti Airtel said its subsidiary, Airtel mCommerce Services, and Axis Bank have partnered to offer banking and payment services, especially to India's unbanked population.
"No-frills savings account of Axis Bank will be opened for customers on the Airtel Money platform called Airtel Money Super Account powered by Axis Bank, offering customers banking transactions, including cash deposit, money transfer and withdrawal," the company said in a statement.
"These accounts will provide convenient, safe and secure savings avenue to financial inclusion customers, paying them savings account interest and enabling them to make remittances," it said.
Savings and remittances solutions will be provided in the top four remittance corridors involving Delhi and Mumbai on the sending side and Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh on the receiving side.
Gradually, other banking products and services like micro-recurring deposits, micro-fixed deposits, small loans and micro-insurance products will also be provided through the platform.
"According to estimates, nearly 43 percent of our country's population does not have bank accounts and continues to rely on cash for majority of transactions as well as payments," said Sanjay Kapoor, chief executive officer (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel.
"The all-new service acts as a no-frills bank account that comes with remittance capabilities which empower customers to send money, withdraw cash from the nearby designated Airtel Money outlets, keep money safe and even enjoy interest on savings through their mobile device," he said.
IT giant Infosys is the technology innovation partner for the service.