HDFC Bank Ties Up With Indian Post Payments Bank To Extend Rural Reach

HDFC Bank has entered into a pact with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to extend its reach to semi-urban and rural areas and cater to the latter's more than 4 crore customer base. 

About 90 per cent of IPPB customers reside in rural areas, which may benefit from this tie-up.

HDFC Bank said the strategic alliance will enable IPPB to provide affordable and diversified offerings, including access to finance, to its customers through its innovative doorstep banking service.

With nearly 2 lakh postal service providers (postmen and gramin dak sevaks) equipped with micro ATMs and biometric devices, IPPB caters to the needs and requirements of various customer segments.

With this partnership, HDFC Bank aims to further strengthen its financial inclusion drive by leveraging the robust and extensive distribution network of IPPB's 650 branches and over 136,000 banking access points across India, it said in a statement on Monday.

"By bringing banking at the doorsteps of customers, IPPB is steadily transforming and reshaping the financial inclusion landscape across the country. Our endeavour is to build a unified platform offering various citizen-centric services, including credit, at the doorstep by leveraging digital technologies and alternate data sources in collaboration with lending partners," J Venkatramu, Managing Director and CEO, India Post Payments Bank, said.

The private sector lender said it is a significant tie-up for HDFC Bank as it will help expand its customer outreach to the last mile.