The Department of Posts has launched India Post Payments Bank operations on a pilot basis in Ranchi and Raipur yesterday. This makes it the second payments bank to commence operations following Airtel. However, in terms of services offered, India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Airtel Payments Bank (APB) differ quite a bit. A refresher on what a payments bank can and cannot do: Types of bank accounts: India Post Payments Bank: The IPPB offers three kinds of bank accounts called Safal, Sugam and Saral. The payments bank classifies the Safal account as a regular account while it calls Sugam and Saral as basic savings deposit accounts. Safal and Sugam accounts have a maximum balance of Rs 1 lakh and the maximum balance on a Saral account is Rs 50,000. The Safal account attracts an annual maintenance fee of Rs 100 from the second year. More details here. Airtel Payments Bank: On the other hand, Airtel Payments Bank does not make a distinction like IPPB on types of accounts. It will, however, make a customer’s mobile number their bank account number (not only Airtel mobile number, any mobile number – whether it’s Vodafone, Idea, Reliance etc.) Interest on bank accounts: India Post Payments Bank: Interest on deposits in IIPB works differently and they are paid out quarterly as opposed to per annum. It also has a three-tiered structure which depends on the quarterly average balance (QAB) in an account. - If QAB is less than Rs 25,00 the interest is 4.5% per annum -If QAB is…
