JIO PAYMENTS BANK GETS RBI NOD TO LAUNCH OPERATIONS

MUMBAI: Jio Payments Bank, a joint venture between Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and State Bank of India (SBI), has received the Reserve Bank of India’s final go-ahead to start operations, a person aware of the matter said.

With Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd crossing the 100 million customer mark, the bank is set to be launched before the end of this month, three people familiar with the matter said.

“To attract customers, RIL may bundle its Jio plans with transaction offers on the payments bank platform. It could also sell various financial and insurance products to boost revenue for the initiative, ” the managing director of a finance company with knowledge of the development said on condition of anonymity.

“Besides, as on any payment gateway, any inflow or outflow of money helps the ventures,” this person said.

He added that RIL could offer banking services to its existing and new customers by leveraging on its retail network, merchant tie-ups, neighbourhood Jio retailers and e-tailers.

An e-mail query to RIL on the launch date of the payments bank did not elicit any response.

In July 2016, RIL and SBI signed the subscription and shareholders’ agreements for their payments bank venture. RIL holds a 70% stake in the venture and SBI owns the rest.

THE JOINT VENTURE WAS FORMED LAST YEAR. RELIANCE INDUSTRIES HOLDS 70% STAKE IN THE VENTURE AND SBI OWNS THE REST