Airtel’s mobile commerce subsidiary Airtel M Commerce Service Limited (AMSL) has received a payments bank license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the company informed BSE through a notification. AMSL, which operates Airtel Money, already has a prepaid payments instrument license from the RBI; Airtel applied for a payments bank license in January 2015, to convert the same into a payments bank license. In February, Kotak Mahindra Bank bought a 19.9% stake in Airtel’s mobile commerce subsidiary AMSL for Rs 98.38 crore. This came after RBI granted an “in-principle” approval to 11 applicants for a payments bank license in August 2015, which included Airtel and Vodafone. At the time of application for the payments bank license, Airtel Money said that it would form a joint venture with Kotak Mahindra Bank. Cholamandalam abandons plans on payments bank: It is also worthy to note that Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company had decided to abandon its plans to set up a payments bank last month. The company owned by The Murugappa Group was one of the 11 firms that got the in-principal nod from RBI in August, last year. A company official was quoted saying that the decision came from the board after "considering competition and other factors, including the long gestation period". Airtel Money details: Airtel Money was launched in 2011 and allows customers to use their mobile phones as a secure way for making payments and transferring money. In India, Airtel Money posted a net profit of Rs 4.47 crore for the year…
