Airtel Payments Bank Offers Free Talk-Time Minutes for Savings Account Deposits

Airtel Payments Bank rolled out its pilot services in Rajasthan last week, offering an interest rate of 7.25 percent on deposits in savings account. To further attract the masses, Airtel on Friday announced an added benefit wherein it will offer one minute of talk time for every rupee deposited.

Say a customer opens an account with Airtel Payments Bank and deposits Rs. 1,000 as their first deposit, they will then receive 1,000 free Airtel-to-Airtel (local/STD) minutes of talk time on their Airtel number. However, the benefit applies to only first time deposits and is valid for up to 30 days.

(Also see: Airtel's Payment Bank: 7.5 Percent Interest and Other Things to Know)

Airtel Payments Bank rolled out its services with banking points at 10,000 Airtel retail outlets in Rajasthan and plans to expand its network to 100,000 by the end of the year. As an effort to promote cashless transactions post demonetisation, a wide network of merchants across Rajasthan will accept digital payments from Airtel Payments Bank.

Furthermore, any customer (Airtel and non-Airtel) with an Aadhaar card will be able to open an account with the bank. Customers can then 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.

Shashi Arora, MD & CEO, Airtel Payments Bank said, "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. We are also undertaking a massive drive to enroll over one lakh merchants in Rajasthan by the year-end, who will not be charged anything for accepting digital payments from Airtel Payments Bank customers. We believe this will boost the digital payments ecosystem hugely and reduce dependence on cash"