STRATEGIC PARTNERS
December 27, 2001
NEW DELHI -- India's postal network plans to turn some of its branches into "financial supermarkets" by introducing ATMs, plastic cards and mutual fund services, according to the Times of India.
Negotiations are underway with Mastercard International and several banks, including UTI Bank, for the proposed plastic cards and ATM businesses, respectively, postal officials told the Times.
Officials said about 1,000 post offices across the country would have ATMs by the end of the year, while nearly 3,000 post offices would distribute financial products within three years.
A strategic partnership between SBI Mutual Fund (SBI-MF) and India Post, the brand under which the postal and other services are provided, will allow post offices in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Delhi and Chennai to sell SBI-MF plans. India Post already has a similar alliance with IDBI-Principal and will announce a tie-up with ICICI later this month.
'The move is aimed at turning post offices into one-stop financial supermarts, where all of one's financial and investment needs are taken care of,' Delhi's chief post master-general S,. Chaddha said while launching the SBI-MF service.
According to the SBI-MF pact, the postal department will earn one per cent as interest for the equity funds and 0.5 per cent for the debt funds. India Post already has an agreement with IDBI- Principal and will announce a similar pact with ICICI Prudential on July 16, according to the Times report.
