India’s Postal Service Launches Digital Banking Platform

“Cardholders can access their online accounts and perform transactions by scanning the QR code on the card, and then performing biometric authentication.”

India’s postal service is launching a new digital banking service that includes a feature allowing customers to perform transactions using a QR code and biometric authentication.

The overall aim of the newly-launched India Post Payments Bank is to extend financial services to the underserved, including individuals in rural areas, low-income households, and migrant laborers. The banking service doesn’t offer credit cards or loans, but allows individuals to open small deposit accounts; and, as an offshoot of the postal service, it can deliver services right to the customer’s door.

To that end, the IPPB is offering customers a small card featuring a QR code. Cardholders can access their online accounts and perform transactions by scanning the QR code on the card, and then performing biometric authentication. There is no need for cardholders to remember any complicated account or card numbers.

The IPPB’s launch comes about a year and a half after India’s postal service began its transformation into a payments bank. While the organization had earlier planned to link digital payment addresses to customers’ Aadhaar numbers – their identities in India’s national biometric ID program – it isn’t yet clear if the IPPB’s system will do so at its outset.

Sources: The Economic Times, The Indian Tribune

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August 28, 2018 – by Alex Perala