Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. will start operations from 21st February 2017, said founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. The company is likely to start with Uttar Pradesh as it is Sharma’s home state. It is then expected to expand its operations in North-East.
Paytm’s original plan was to launch the payments bank in April. Rivals such as Airtel and India Post have already launched their operations and have been pushing it through massive advertisements and campaigns.
Payments banks are not allowed to lend themselves, but many are banking on cross-selling banking products through partnerships.
They can accept a restricted deposit, which is currently limited to Rs 1 lakh per customer, but cannot issue loans and credit cards. Both current and savings account can be operated by such payments banks at flexible interest rates.
