IICA to help India Post Payments Bank achieve scale and reach

The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on Tuesday signed an agreement, under which IICA has been entrusted with the responsibility of capacity building of IPPB through training of its staff besides providing research support by instituting research chairs in the emerging area of payment banking.

''After green and white revolution, a financial revolution in India is all set to transform the rural economy,'' secretary, ministry of corporate affairs Injeti Srinivas said while speaking on the occasion.

''With massive network of post offices, IPPB can very effectively remedy the lack of financial inclusion in India,'' Srinivas added.

Highlighting the role of the post offices in mobilisation of household savings, secretary, pepartment of posts, A N Nanda, said the department has been a sound pillar giving strength to Indian economy since long. He emphasised that IPPB will be adding further strength to Jandhan Yojana of the government of India by facilitating 'ease of transaction'.

IPPB is a flagship "financial inclusion" initiative of government of India to cover major portion of the country's population that is outside the ambit of formal banking, he added.

Presenting the framework of collaboration to the house, secretary MCA and DG and CEO of IICA, Gyaneshawar Kumar Singh, said the IPPB will provide doorstep services, which will include third party transfer and direct benefit transfer.

He said that the policy of last 60 years will become reality in the next 5-6 years. ''We want to leverage the trust held by the post office and the postman. The trust that the people repose in postmen will help immensely in delivering of financial services. This is a rural-centric initiative as city has abundant financial services.''

Speaking on the occasion, MD and CEO of IPPB, Suresh Sethi, said that this is the largest financial literacy mission in the world as the India Post Payments Bank can reach 6 times the 50,000 branches currently. The rural banking infrastructure has the potential of increasing 10-fold, he said.

The India Post Payments Bank infrastructure will connect with the bigger banking infrastructure and provide inclusive banking services in the rural area. It will use technology, both by itself and through initiatives of agents and banks, to improve operational efficiency. Service orientation is another critically important component, Sethi said. ''Standing on the principles of accessibility and affordability, IPPB is in the process of not only offering last mile delivery of financial services but also connect with larger financial ecosystem,'' he added.

IPPB is going to be the largest financial literacy programme anywhere in the world, he added.