Central Banking

RBI licenses prospective mobile phone bankers

Indian central bank grants 11 trial licences in effort to shake sector up

raghuram-rajan
RBI governor Raghuram Rajan

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on August 19 that 11 companies are being granted licences "in principle" to run payments banks aimed at extending finance to poorer citizens "predominantly via mobile phones".

The prospective new bankers include the biggest mobile phone banking company in Africa, as well as India's state-owned postal carrier. Mobile telephone-based banking has transformed payments in many African companies, but has yet to make such a significant impact in India.

Payments

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