Wirecard announced today an expanded partnership with RBL Bank to promote financial inclusion in India. This partnership will make digital payment and banking transactions more readily accessible to all Indian citizens, including those living in remote areas.
In partnership with RBL, Wirecard will empower its retail agents, who serve as customer service representatives in various areas across the country, to enable the financially underserved to access basic payment and banking services. These include cash withdrawals and deposits as well as balance enquiries. Currently, there are nearly 5,000 agents enrolled in the program. Consumers will only need their local Aadhaar identification number – a biometric database that provides a unique identity to each Indian citizen and can be linked to a bank account – to access those services through Wirecard’s retail agents. The service is available to all Indian citizens with an Aadhaar number linked to a bank account. Today, around 90% of India’s population has an Aadhaar number, and 80% of adults have bank accounts.
Wirecard provides hundreds of thousands of people daily with access to affordable financial services and other related services such as ticketing, mobile top-up, insurance or logistics through its nation-wide retail agent network and offers tens of thousands of retailers the opportunity to earn extra money by driving financial inclusion in India. With the extended partnership with RBL Bank, Wirecard’s retail agents can now offer an even broader range of digital financial services.
“Our extended partnership with RBL Bank will help bring even more essential transaction services to both urban and rural residents India-wide, regardless of their bank. As a leading digital financial services provider, we are excited to support this innovative solution,” said Anil Kapur, Managing Director India at Wirecard. “Together with RBL Bank, we are addressing the needs of consumers who demand quick and secure financial services, no matter where they are located.”