Click here to view Results
A Curtain Raiser on Postal Savings Banks Forum
The Minister for Communications & IT and Law and Justice World Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad will inaugurate the Postal Savings Banks Forum in New Delhi tomorrow.
This year’s forum is being organised by World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) jointly with the National Savings Organisation (Ministry of Finance) and the Department of Posts.
This year’s forum is being organised by World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) jointly with the National Savings Organisation (Ministry of Finance) and the Department of Posts.
The theme of this year’s Postal Savings Banks Forum will be "The rising force of postal banking in the retail banking market".
The role of postal operators in the world of retail banking is often overlooked. Post Offices worldwide hold 1.6 billion savings and deposit accounts. This is second only to commercial banks, which hold about 2.5 billion accounts. Thus, post offices are critical to the pursuit of financial inclusion, which is recognised today as a vital pre-requisite to socio-economic development.
The Universal Postal Union estimates that several hundred million people, often without an account, use the Post to make and receive basic payment transactions such as domestic and international transfers, government payments and utility payments. Postal operators, in all their activities, have always relied on a business model based on large volumes and low costs. Combined with the universal service obligation through which the State gives the mandate to the Post to serve the entire population, these specific features make the Post a worthwhile ally in the fight against financial exclusion.
Financial inclusion brought about through the postal network is called postal financial inclusion. India has about 1.55 lakh post offices, which is more than the combined branch strength of commercial banks (about 1 lakh). The number of savings accounts held in post offices in India is about 31 crore, which is more than that of any commercial bank in the country. The postal network possesses excellent cash management abilities and is trusted for its governance practices. Thus India seems to have the right mix of ingredients to deliver concrete results in postal financial inclusion. Hence the WSBI Postal Savings Bank Forum is of considerable interest to the Banking Sector in India.
"The rising force of postal banking in the retail banking market".
The Minister for Communications & IT and Law and Justice Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that a group constituted by the Prime Minister consisting of the Secretary of the Postal department is looking into making of a financial institution for Postal savings. He was inaugurating the Postal Savings Banks Forum being organised by World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI), the National Savings Organisation of the Finance Ministry and the Department of Posts in New Delhi today.
He said the present government wants to promote financial inclusion and the Jhan Dhan Yojana is a big effort in this direction. Another programme of the government of ‘Digital India’, which is steered by his ministry, also aims at digital inclusion and digital empowerment of rural poor.
He said the present government wants to promote financial inclusion and the Jhan Dhan Yojana is a big effort in this direction. Another programme of the government of ‘Digital India’, which is steered by his ministry, also aims at digital inclusion and digital empowerment of rural poor.
Shri Prasad informed delegates from various countries that Post Office Savings Bank is one of the oldest and largest savings institution in the country and it also has the largest outreach in rural India, and more so, in backward and remote areas. The minister expressed happiness that the major asset of the postal institution, that is its connectivity on the ground is sought to be used for promoting e commerce in the country.
Secretary, Department of Posts Srimati Kavary Banerjee, in her key note address informed that the Department’s network of thousand post offices significantly out-numbers the combined number of branches of all commercial banks taken together.
The post office savings schemes hold a total of 312 million accounts, which is more than the number of accounts held by any commercial bank. More importantly, the social sector disbursements done through the post offices have succeeded in bringing a total of about 80 million previously unbanked individuals into the fold of formal financial institutions in the last five years. All these have led to a change in the perception about the Post Office among the public as also within the organization.
Consequently India Post is now perceived as a potential key facilitator of financial inclusion in the country, having a role in promoting the country’s socio-economic development, she added.
The post office savings schemes hold a total of 312 million accounts, which is more than the number of accounts held by any commercial bank. More importantly, the social sector disbursements done through the post offices have succeeded in bringing a total of about 80 million previously unbanked individuals into the fold of formal financial institutions in the last five years. All these have led to a change in the perception about the Post Office among the public as also within the organization.
Consequently India Post is now perceived as a potential key facilitator of financial inclusion in the country, having a role in promoting the country’s socio-economic development, she added.
The theme of this year’s Postal Savings Banks Forum will be "The rising force of postal banking in the retail banking market".
PIB
