Post office hopes

India Post Payments Bank has many hurdles to overcome

India Post has now launched its much-anticipated payments bank, which will seek to leverage the post office’s 150,000-plus branches across India to bring financial services to the masses. The idea behind the scheme is that many rural consumers will continue to prefer human or physical interaction with a bank to the digital-first approach being taken by some other such entities. At first, India Post Payments Bank, or IPPB, will start with 650 branches, although 300,000 postmen are being trained to become banking correspondents in addition to their regular duties. This, it is hoped, will reinvigorate the post office, which has