The Airtel Payments Bank has officially launched its nationwide operations in all 29 states of India. The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has formally launched the Airtel Bank in an event in New Delhi.
The Airtel Payments Bank is a fully-digital and paper-free bank and in it, the accounts will be opened by using e-KYC for which customers’ Aadhar number will be required.
Let’s Know About Airtel Bank
- Snapshots of Airtel Payments Bank
- History of Airtel Payments Bank
- How to Access Airtel Payments Bank Services
- Transaction of Money
- Fees & Charges
Snapshots of Airtel Payments Bank
- Account: Your Airtel mobile number will be your account number.
- Account Opening: Requires no documents at all, only the customer’s Aadhaar number is needed.
- USSD & IVR Facility: The USSD and IVR will be available in 12 languages for non-smartphone customers.
- Smart Savings: Earn 7.25% interest on your savings account.
- Talk Time: For every Rupee that you deposit at the time of opening an account, you will get equivalent telecom talk time.
- Insurance: Free personal accidental insurance cover of 1 Lac with every saving account.
- ATM/Debit Card Facility: Presently, no ATM/Debit card facility.
- Charge: The bank would charge a fee of 0.65 % on all cash withdrawals from the account.
- Alerts: Get real time alerts for every transaction on your registered mobile number and email ID.
History of Airtel bank
Before the official launch, the Airtel Payments Bank, which received final approval from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April 2016, became the India’s first payments bank to start operations and to offer basic banking services as a pilot basis in Rajasthan from November 2016.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Airtel, said
“Our aim with Airtel Payments Bank is to give every Indian access to an equal, effective and trustworthy banking experience.”
How to Access Airtel Bank Services
- To access Airtel Payments Bank services, customers simply need to install MyAirtel app on their smartphone or to register online through Airtel site.
- Anyone (non-Airtel customers also) can instantly open a saving account by using Adhaar-based e-KYC.
- Customers can also open an account by visiting a designated Airtel retail outlet in his/her neighborhood.
Transaction of Money
- Airtel-to-Airtel: No fees for Airtel to Airtel money transfers within Airtel Payments Bank.
- Digital transactions: The bank will not charge any processing fee for digital transactions via Airtel Payments Bank.
- MasterCard-Powered Virtual Debit Card: Customers would also get access to a MasterCard powered online card, which can be used to make payments across all online merchants.
- USSD Transactions: No charges for USSD transactions within Airtel Payments Bank or to check their account balance and depositing money into the account.
- Cash Withdrawal: The bank will charge 0.65%, when a customer makes physical cash withdrawal from his/her account. A customer will be able to withdraw cash only at the banking retail points.
- Money Transfer: Money can be transferred to any bank account in India. You can access money transfer services by using the Airtel Money app or through Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) by dialing *400#.
Fees & Charges
| Service | Fee/Charges () |
| Account Opening | Free |
| Cash Deposit / Load Cash (Internet banking, Mobile App & Banking Points) |
Free |
| Cash Withdrawal | |
| >=10 to <=500 | 5 |
| >500 to <=1000 | 10 |
| >1000 to <=2000 | 15 |
| >2000 to <=3000 | 20 |
| >3000 to <=4000 | 25 |
| > = 4000 | 0.65% of withdrawal amount |
| Funds Transfer | |
| Within Airtel Payments Bank (Internet banking, Mobile App & USSD) | Free |
| From Airtel Payments Bank to Other Bank (Internet banking, Mobile App & USSD) | 0.5% of amount transferred |
| Within Airtel Payments Bank (From Banking Point) | 0.5% of amount transferred |
| Account Closure** | 50 |
**A sum that cannot be withdrawn from the account and will be deducted at the time of account closure.
