Airtel Payments Bank to expand footprint in Bengal

Airtel Payments Bank is rapidly expanding its footprint in West Bengal to take banking services to unbanked villages in remote areas and to contribute to financial inclusion in the state.

The bank has a network of over 30,000 neighbourhood banking points spread across West Bengal, and plans to expand its banking points in the state by 50 per cent by March 2021, the company said on Wednesday.

Over 12,500 unbanked villages in the state now have access to formal banking services with Airtel Payments Bank.

Majority of the residents of these villages had no bank account or had to travel long distances to reach the nearest bank branch, the officials said.

Over two million customers in these villages now have savings accounts with the bank. Through these banking points customers can also access a range of financial services like Aadhaar Enabled Payments, insurance and government pension schemes.

"Airtel Payments Bank is committed to take formal banking services to the deep rural pockets of the country and work to build a robust doorstep banking infrastructure.

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"We are planning to expand its footprint by 50 per cent by March 2021. This will be the largest banking network in the state and a large number of these banking points will serve customers in unbanked and under banked geographies," Airtel Payment Bank COO Ganesh Ananthanarayanan said.