At a time when the government is making a determined push for a less-cash economy through demonetisation of high-value currencies, Airtel Payments Bank today announced that it will offer one minute of talk-time (within its network) for every rupee deposited by customers.
“For every rupee deposited in its savings bank account with Airtel Payments Bank, customers will get one minute of talk time on their Airtel mobile number,” the company said.
However, this benefit is applicable on first time deposits only, Airtel clarified.
This means that if a customer opens an account with a deposit of Rs 1,000, then the person will get 1,000 minutes of free talk time on his or her Airtel mobile number. The talk time can be used for calling all over India, it added.
"We are leveraging Airtel's telecom ecosystem to bring banking services to the doorsteps of every Indian. We are confident that this additional benefit along with the industry-best interest rate on deposits will encourage customers to open accounts with us and give a big boost to customer acquisition," said Shashi Arora, MD and CEO, Airtel Payments Bank.
On November 23, Airtel Payments Bank had rolled out banking services in Rajasthan, becoming the first payments bank to go live in the country.
Customers can avail Airtel Payments Bank's services via the Airtel Money app or through USSD by dialing *400# or simply by dialing 400. Non-Airtel customers can access the services by dialing 8800688006. Customer can also visit a designated Airtel retail outlet to avail the services.
Besides Airtel, other companies like Reliance, SBI among others are also gearing up to launch their e-wallet App with various facilities to lure customers into going digital.
While Reliance Industries will launch a Jio-Money app to enable digital transactions, especially among small merchants on December 5, State Bank of India (SBI) chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya on December 1 announced that the bank will come up with a mobile wallet for feature phone by first half of this December.
Arundhati added the bank has already launched a mobile wallet 'State Bank Buddy' for smart phone users.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 8 demonetisation move, many e-wallet companies like PayTM, Freecharge and MobiKwik among others witnessed a sudden surge in customer base and transactions.
Also, e-commerce firms like Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon have increased point-of-sale (PoS) machines to cover more than 120 cities (3,000 pin codes) and have also started wallet cashbacks to lure customers.
