Digital payments company Oxigen Services (India) has partnered with RBL Bank to map its wallet, a move that will allow its two lakh retail points to act as RBL’s banking correspondents (BCs) over the next two years, a top company executive said.
Digital payments company Oxigen Services (India) has partnered with RBL Bank to map its wallet, a move that will allow its two lakh retail points to act as RBL’s banking correspondents (BCs) over the next two years, a top company executive said.
“We have over two lakh retail points, and in two years, we will have all of these act as RBL BC points, effectively replicating a payments bank model,” Pramod Saxena, Chairman and MD of Oxigen, told PTI.
The partnership with RBL Bank will take effect by December. The company, with a large base of customers, had unsuccessfully bid for a payments bank licence. With over 9,000 access points, Oxigen is a leading banking correspondent for State Bank of India.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has awarded payments bank licence to 11 entities, plans to grant several more licences next year to promote financial inclusion, RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra had said earlier this month.
“We are hopeful that we will get a licence next year. In any case, we are tweaking our business model to replicate a payments bank. And with the RBL Bank tie-up, we will have a well-established network,” Saxena said. “By mapping our wallet with RBL Bank, we can open bank accounts, offer cash-outs at our location, and also offer credit products like co-branded RuPay cards, which payments banks cannot currently do.”
Oxigen, which was set up in 2004 and primarily operated as a business-to-business payment system, is now making a push for its business-to-customer service. Saxena also said the company has been cash positive in the past four years.
On survival strategy, he said, “You can have two or three or several approaches to the business, but you have to have a direct approach to the market, otherwise it is difficult for your business to survive.” The company, which signed on Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador and is a sponsor of the South African T-20 cricket team, is looking to spend Rs 100 crore next year on brand building.
