Page 8 - Banking Finance February 2022

BANK UPDATE

ment has proposed the privatisation of paid Rs 393 crore to depositors in the "By bringing banking at the doorsteps
two PSBs. However, "decision by the first six months of the half-year ended of customers, IPPB is steadily trans-
cabinet committee/cabinet has not September 2021, a rise of 1,334 per forming and reshaping the financial
been taken in this regard," he said. cent when compared to Rs 27.4 crore inclusion landscape across the country.
in the same period of last year. Our endeavour is to build a unified
DICGC mops up Rs. 9,561 platform offering various citizen-cen-
India Post Payments part- tric services including, credit at the
cr premium in first halt of doorstep by leveraging digital tech-
ners HDFC Bank for ser-
fiscal nologies and alternate data sources in
vices in semi-urban, rural collaboration with lending partners.
The Deposit Insurance and Credit
Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), which areas This important partnership with HDFC

provides insurance cover to depositors India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and Bank is a step in that direction of pro-
of banks, has collected deposit insur- HDFC Bank have signed a memoran- moting an inclusive, digitally-driven
ance premium of Rs 9,561 crore from dum of understanding for offering and social banking ecosystem."
banks during the six months ended latter's various banking products and
September 2021, of which 93.5 per services to customers of the payments Govt asks Banks to lend
cent was contributed by commercial bank in semi-urban and rural areas, only on negotiable ware-
banks and the rest by co-operative focussing on unbanked and
banks. underserved segments. house receipts
The government may have back-
With this, the Deposit Insurance Fund Over 4.7 crore customers of IPPB of
(DIF), built out of the premia paid by whom nearly 90 per cent are residing tracked on agricultural laws but it has
insured banks and coupon income re- in rural areas are expected to benefit begun taking small steps for
ceived on investments in government from this partnership. formalisation of the sector.
securities, swelled to Rs 1.41 lakh crore The strategic alliance will enable IPPB It has nudged banks to finance ware-
as of September 2021, yielding a re- to provide affordable and diversified houses only against negotiable ware-
serve ratio (ratio of DIF to insured de- offerings, including access to finance, house receipts (NWRs) and electronic-
posits) of 1.81 per cent, up from Rs to its customers through its innovative NWRs, a move aimed at getting more
1.29 lakh crore in March 2021, the RBI Doorstep Banking Service. With nearly warehouses in the ambit of formal fi-
said in the Financial Stability Report 2 lakh postal service providers (Post- nance.
(FSR). men and Gramin Dak Sevaks) equipped "At present only 10% of the ware-
The settlement and recovery of claims with microATMs and biometric devices, houses in the country are registered
from banks in the first half of 2021-22 IPPB caters to the needs and require- because banks are continuing to ex-
was significantly higher than a year ments of various customer segments tend pledge finance against local ware-
ago, the central bank said. As on De- but is also committed to making digi- houses receipts or storage receipts," a
cember 20, 2021, DICGC has paid Rs tal adoption easier at the last mile by government official aware of the de-
1,374 crore in respect of 1.09 lakh enabling an assisted banking model. liberations said on condition of ano-
depositors of 16 out of 21 troubled With this partnership, HDFC Bank aims nymity.
banks - including PMC Bank - that were to further strengthen its financial inclu- That is why it has been suggested to
eligible to receive such pay-outs, it said. sion drive by leveraging the robust and banks that they finance only against
extensive distribution network of IPPBs
DICGC, headed by RBI Deputy Gover- eNWRs, the official said. "This will en-
650 branches and over 136,000 bank-
nor Michael Patra, pays out a maxi- courage more warehouses to seek
mum of Rs 5 lakh as insurance to the ing access points across India. WDRA (Warehouse Development
depositor of a troubled bank irrespec- Commenting on the MoU, J Regulatory Authority) registration and
tive of the total amount that the cus- Venkatramu, Managing Director & help in rapid development of the ware-
tomer has deposited in the bank. It CEO, India Post Payments Bank, said, housing ecosystem."

8 | 2022 | FEBRUARY | BANKING FINANCE