INDIA POST PAYMENTS BANK

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Financial inclusion

According to the Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’ for short) some of the sections of the society that remain outside of the banking sector, like migrant labor, low income households will benefitted through small saving accounts and payments and remittance services.  This can be achieved by such people opening bank accounts in post offices which spread all over the country in rural areas through ‘India Post Payments Bank’ (‘IPPB’ for short) system.

Payment system

A payment system is any system used to settle financial transactions through the transfer of monetary value, and includes the institutions, instruments, people, rules, procedures, standards and technologies that make such an exchange possible.  A common type of payment system is the operational network that links bank accounts and provides for monetary exchange using bank deposits.

IPPB

The Government has allocated additional funds to meet the requirements of the operations of IPPB and for it to compete with private payments banks like Paytm and others. IPPB will be a 100% government owned entity. IPPB was set up under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity ownership of Government of India on 17.08.2016.  IPPB started its operations on 30^th January, 2017 by opening two pilot branches, one at Rajpur and the other at Ranchi.

The Prime Minister of India inaugurated the India Post Payments Bank on 01.09.2018.  The post offices have been permitted to link the 17 crore postal savings accounts with the IPPB accounts.  Initially there will be 650 branches and 3250 access points in all.  Leveraging the spread of post offices throughout the country, the government’s intention is to make banking facility available at the door step of citizens and leverage the workforce of 3 lakh postmen.  The government aims to link over 1.5 lakh post offices with India Post Payments Bank.

Opening of account

The account opening will be through the Aadhaar card.  The transactions can be done through the use of QR code or biometric ID.   Since these services are to be rendered at the door steps of the customers the postmen will carry the appropriate hardware for these services.

Criteria for payments bank

The RBI mandated that the payments bank is not allowed to issue any form of loan or credit card.  India Post Payments Bank will focus on providing basic financial services, especially through savings accounts and payments services such as social security payments, utility bill payments and monthly transfer.  While IPPB will act as a bank allowing accounts to be opened and deposits made and amounts withdrawn, customers cannot avail any loans nor can they expect to apply for credit cards.   It will also provide access to third party financial services such as mutual funds, insurance, pension and loan products.         There are tie ups with Punjab National Bank and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance.      

IPPB allows a maximum limit of savings ₹ 1 lakhs.  The funds exceeding ₹ 1 lakh in the regular savings account can be transferred to the account holder’s linked Post Office Savings Account.     IPPB has collaborated with the Department of Posts for opening a Post Office Savings Account, which will be linked to India Post Payments Bank account.

Services rendered by IPPB

IPPB renders its services of two kinds one is to the personal and the other is to merchant people.

Personal services

The IPPB renders the following services to the individuals-

• Products

• Savings Account

• Regular Savings Account;
• Digital Savings Account; and
• Basic Savings Account.

• Current Account

• Services

• Mobile Banking;
• SMS Banking;
• Missed Call Banking;
• Phone Banking;
• QR Card.

• Door Step Banking-

• One can open a bank account, transfer funds, deposit and withdraw cash, recharge or pay bills and accomplish much more with our Doorstep banking services, at nominal charges-

• Digital Transaction (Other than cash deposits and withdrawals) – ₹ 15/- per transaction;
• Cash withdrawal, cash deposit – ₹ 25/- per transaction;

• Payments

• Bill Payments and recharge;
• Remittances and Fund Transfer;
• Direct Benefit transfers

• Other product services

• Group term insurance.

Utilization of door step services

• The customer is to contactcentre number – 155299 and book his appointment;
• He will get SMS confirmation;
• He is to confirm the visit details of the representative of IPPB;
• He is to provide his account number/mobile number or show his QR card to the door step representative and he can get the services.

Merchant Services

The following fall under the category of merchant-

• Kirana Store
• Mobile Recharge Shop
• Food Kiosk
• Food Kiosk
• Tea Stall and many other unorganized retail outlets

Any Smartphone with android version 5.0 or higher is required.

The following services are rendered to the merchant categories-

• Products

• Current Account;

• Services
• Innovative and cost-effective payment acceptance
• Acceptance of unlimited digital payments, unlike wallets
• Easy online access to account statements and transaction details

Benefits

• Cost-effective - No charges for downloading, registering and accepting digital payments;
• Easy payment management - Use IPPB’s innovative Merchant App, which can be easily downloaded onto your Smartphone;
• Simple and secure – digital payments can be accepted from the customers;
• Doorstep banking - Get cash management services at your doorstep;
• Instant information- Access your account statements and reports at any time;
• Track your business - Build a transaction history that enables you to create your positive credit score;
• Drive a digital ecosystem - Avoid hassles of managing loose cash, small change, counterfeit notes or soiled notes.

Doorstep services

• IPPB offers banking services in rural, semi-urban and urban areas through Doorstep banking services, powered by an efficient network of Postman/GDS.
• a customer, can avail the Doorstep banking services at communication address, be it residential or shop/business

Features and benefits

• Paperless process
•  You can choose a time slot of your convenience for Doorstep banking
•  Takes financial inclusion to the last mile of the nation/Enables banking even in the most remote areas in the country

Services to be provided by postmen

The following services are to be provided to the customers of IPPB-

Customer On-boarding

The GDS/Postman will open your requested type of account by visiting your registered address. You can open any of the following accounts using this service:

• Basic savings account
• Regular savings account
• Salary account
• Current account (This type of account can be opened in addition to any one of the above three accounts).

Merchant On-boarding

• You can open a current account and avail Merchant Services through our Postman/GDS at your doorstep
• Once on-board, you can enjoy digital payment acceptance solutions and manage your day-to-day business activities efficiently

Account Services

• Cash deposit and withdrawals
• Instant money transfers
• Easy money transfer to your own as well as to other IPPB accounts
• Bill payments
• Account modification 

Third Party Products

• Third-party insurance – Group term insurance

Other Account-Related Services

• Update PAN and nominee details
• Beneficiary management
• Request for account statement and related reports 
• Stop payment of cheques
• Add/delete standing instructions
• QR card re-issuance
• Aadhaar linking
• Share Complaints/Feedback with the GDS/Postman 
• Upgrade Account and Update personal details through our Doorstep banking services
• Avail the facility of sweep-in and sweep-out at your doorstep

Complaint procedure

Any complaint on the services of the system may be done in the following ways-

• The customer can visit to the nearest post office and make a complaint to the said post office;
• The customer may speak to the customer care executive on toll free no. 155299 or 1800-180-7980.
• The complaint may be sent to the email – .
• The customer may write to-

India Post Payments Bank Limited,

Corporate office,

2nd floor

Speed Post Centre,

Bhai Veer Singh Marg,

Market Road,

New Delhi – 110 001.

Four tier redressal system

IPPB has four tier redressal systems for its customers.

• I – Tier - If the complaint is not resolved as per the satisfaction of the customer, within 7 working days, the customer may contact to branch manager of his nearest branch/home branch.

• II – tier -If the complaint is not resolved as per the satisfaction of the customer after escalation to branch manager within 7 working days the customer may approach circle nodal officer during office (Official time details) hours on working days.
• III – Tier - Further if the complaint is not resolved as per the satisfaction of the customer after escalation to circle nodal officer, within 9 working days the customer may approach Principle Nodal officer during office hours (Official time details ) on working details.

Shri. Pawan Kumar Goyal,

Chief Operating Officer,

India Post Payments Bank Limited,

Corporate Office, Speed  Post Centre, 

Bhai Veer Singh Marg,

New Delhi-110 001.

Telephone : 011-23362148

Email :

• IV – Tier - After 30 days of lodging the complaint if it is not resolved or the customer is not satisfied with the solution provided by the bank the customer may approach banking ombudsmen of your region.

www.bankingombudsman.rbi.org.in/region.

Interest

           India Post Payment Bank has changed its interest rate on all variants of Savings Accounts as per the Board Approved policy from existing 5.5% p.a. to 4% p.a. which will be paid quarterly to the customers with effect from 16th July, 2018. Thus the existing account holders of Safal, Sugam and Saral accounts will be paid interest on their savings account deposits accordingly. The interest rate payable on Regular, Basic and Digital Savings accounts will also be 4.0% p.a. as above.

Service charges

The service charges that are chargeable by IPPB are as follows-

For savings account-

• Account Statement will be supplied freely for every quarter.Additional physical statement will be required to be served on payment of ₹ 50/-;
• QR card reissuance – ₹ 25/-;
• Balance certificate per instance – ₹ 50/-;
• Card/KIT returned due to wrong address – ₹ 50/-;
• Cheque bounce/return charges (Outward) – ₹ 50/-;

For current account-

• Non maintenance of Monthly Average Balance of ₹ 1000/- - ₹ 100/-;
• QR card reissuance – ₹ 25/-;
• Balance certificate per instance – ₹ 50/-;
• Card/KIT returned due to wrong address – ₹ 50/-;
• Cheque bounce/return charges (inward) – ₹ 200/-;
• Cheque bounce/return charges (outward) – ₹ 50/-;
• Cheque stop payment per instrument – ₹ 25/-;
• Cheque stop payment per series – ₹ 100/-;
• ECS return charges (financial reasons) – ₹ 25/-;
• Outstation cheque collection charges –

• Upto ₹ 5000/- per instrument – ₹ 25/-;
• Rs.5,000/- to ₹ 10,000/- - ₹ 50/-;
• Rs.10,000/- to ₹ 1 lakh – ₹ 100/-
• More than ₹ 1 lakh – ₹ 200/-

• Cash deposit charges for more than ₹ 15,000/- - ₹ 1.50 per ₹ 1000/-

Charges on Money transfer

First Money Transfer Free: Up to INR 500 within 90 days of account opening.

Mode of Money Transfer	Transaction size	Charges at Access Point & Doorstep	Charges for Mobile Banking
Intra Bank(IPPB account to IPPB account)	Free	Free	Free
IMPS	Up to 2,000	₹ 10	Rs.5
	2,001-5,000	₹ 20	Rs.5
	Above 5,000	₹ 50	₹ 10
NEFT	Up to 10,000	₹ 2.50	₹ 2.50
	10,001 to 1 Lakh	Rs.5	Rs.5
	1 Lakh to 2 Lakh	₹ 15	Rs.10
	Above 2 Lakh	₹ 25	₹ 20
RTGS	2 Lakh to 5 Lakh	₹ 25	₹ 25
	Above 5 Lakh	₹ 50	Rs.50

Settlement of death claim

The IPPB has nomination facility.  In the event of the death of the customer the outstanding balance with interest is paid to the person to whom the nomination was made by the customer.  The claim is to be made in the prescribed form.

In case there is no nomination, then the claim is made in the prescribed form.  Along with the form the following documents are to be submitted-

• Legal heir certificate;
• Letter of Authority;
• Affidavit;
• Letter of indemnity, which is to be signed by the claimant and by two sureties.

References:

www.thenewsminute.com

www.ippbonline.com

www.rbi.org.in