Things you Should Know About a Payments Bank

Payments banks have become a buzzword in the banking industry. After Airtel Payments Bank and India Post Payments Bank when Paytm too joined the league it drew much attention. So, it can help to learn a few important things about these “special” banks:

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• As per RBI regulations, you can make deposits in your payments bank account up to Rs. 1 lakh only. While you can make the deposits in smaller amounts, once the threshold of Rs. 1 lakh is reached, you cannot deposit further.
• Just like traditional banks, payments banks also offer two kinds of accounts- savings account and current account, which are for general customers and people in business
• Apart from the standard debit cards, payments banks also offer virtual debit cards too. Moreover, these cards do not incur any annual fee, unlike the physical cards.
• Payments banks are not allowed to offer loans or fixed deposit schemes to their customers as of now. However, this could change in the future.
• You can earn interest on your account in a payments bank. While the minimum rate is 4% as set by the RBI, some payments banks are offering higher rates to lure customers. For instance, Airtel Payments bank is offering a 7.5% interest rate.
• Payments banks also offer online money transfer services such as NEFT and IMPS. In fact, these banks strongly emphasize on digital payments, and you can benefit from related promotional offers too.

As Indian economy is growing in the digital arena, it is likely we will see more and more digital payments banks in the country soon.