Kotak Mahindra Bank is taking up 19.90 percent stake in Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL), a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited, on AMSL obtaining the Payment Bank licence from RBI. However, the size deal remains undisclosed.
It is AMSL that offers Airtel Money, the subsidiary is looking into supporting instant money transfer between its own prepaid wallets and to bank accounts. AMSL is in the process of applying for Payment Bank License thus converting its existing Pre-paid Payment Instrument license into a Payments Bank License.
Apart from offering money transfer services, AMSL also offers ticketing, mobile & DTH recharges, utility bill payments, online shopping, money transfer services; all through Airtel money. The company’s other product offerings include a business correspondent tie-up with Axis Bank Limited and business to business payment collection services.
With the investment Kotak seeks to offer critical services such as small savings accounts, remittances, etc. getting low income households and small businesses under the formal banking network.
Kotak’s other digital offering include Kotak’s Jifi (an integrated Social Bank Account), Kaypay (an agnostic payment product for Facebook), ActivMoney (Automatic TD sweep-in and Sweep-out) among others.