Jio Payments Bank Likely to Begin Operations in December 2017

Reliance Jio had secured a payments bank licence from the RBI back in March when it reached the 100-million customer's mark.

Written by: India.com Business Desk

Updated: October 9, 2017, 4:21 PM IST

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Mumbai, October 9: The Jio Payments Bank is likely to start its operations in December this year. The launch of the Payments Bank was earlier delayed as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked it demonstrate its capabilities for a hassle-free launch. The Jio Payments Bank is a 70:30 joint venture between Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and India’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI). As per reports by Livemint, the payments bank had initially planned its launch to coincide with the delivery of its 4G-enabled Jio Phone in October but now, the operations are scheduled to start in December 2017. It has to be noted that the delivery of Jio Phones has already started.

Reliance Jio had secured a payments bank licence from the RBI back in March when it reached the 100-million customer’s mark. A Jio official was quoted by Livemint on condition of anonymity that the RBI wanted to be sure that the payments bank is fully compliant with all the regulations and is able to service its customers efficiently. “The demonstrations are being made to assure the regulator that the standards of customer service will be sustainably maintained,” the official added. With this, Reliance will be able to expand its customer base and will serve as bridging the gap between the rich and the poor.

According to PTI reports, Jio stated that deliveries of the low-cost 4G handsets will begin in rural areas and small towns, before urban centres. SBI, which has a customer base of 420 million as of 1 April, will help Jio in reaching out to new customers. Reliance Jio which has about 129 million customers as of 31 August will now be able to reach out to more people and expand its reach.

Reports state that more than 11 payments bank licences were issued by the RBI last year, only a handful have started operations. Earlier this year, Airtel announced its Payments Bank service for digital payments. With this, the company got into UPI integration enabled on its digital payments platform by which users are able to make instant money transfers to any bank account in India linked to your BHIM account. In May, Paytm unveiled its Payments Bank with features such as four percent interest, no minimum account maintenance charges and more. With this, Paytm Payments Bank became the third payments bank service in India after India Post and Airtel Payments bank.