Reserve Bank of India to come up with new vision on payment systems

The RBI has been bringing out such vision documents for payment systems since 1998 and they have been covering a period of three years each.

According to Deputy Governor R. Gandhi, cited by the source, it is of critical importance that the population in over 6 lakh villages in the country is exposed to the alternate delivery channels. In addition, in order to reach the average levels of BRIC countries, India will need 20 million POS terminals as against the current 1.2 million. The proliferation of digital channels is evident mostly in the Tier I and Tier II centres of the country. “In order to promote digital channels, it is incumbent on the ecosystem which includes the banks, network partners and others. To ensure that there is adequate availability of digital channels and enablers in Tier III to Tier VI centres as well,” Gandhi said.

The central bank has also clarified that entities that have been granted in-principle approval by it for setting up payments banks and small finance banks can apply to the RBI for membership of any centralised/decentralised payment systems, including Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS), after receiving the licence for commencement of business under Banking Regulation Act, 1949.