NEW DELHI (CU)_The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is a specialised division of the Department of Post, under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Communications of the government of India. Since its pilot project in January 2017, the organisation expended its operations across the country to provide a range of services, from savings accounts to current accounts, money transfers and bill and utility payments. This week, the financial service provider announced plans to join hands with the country’s largest mortgage lender, HDFC Limited to offer homes loans to IPPB’s 47 million customers.
Under this new strategic alliance, the state-owned bank hopes to provide mortgage services to unbanked and underserved areas in India, which have little to no access to finance. “Financial inclusion cannot be achieved without enabling access to credit,” IPPB’s Managing Director J. Venkatramu said. “Complemented by our robust network and HDFC’s leadership in the housing finance market, the alliance aims to make housing loans available and accessible, using a digitally enabled agent banking channel.”
The bank intends to deploy the new home loan services through nearly 200,000 banking service providers under the jurisdiction of the Departmental Post Offices, including Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks. HDFC, on the other hand, will provide the required credit, technical and legal services and process and disburse the loans.
“IPPB has a strong presence across the country and this strategic alliance will go a long way to promote affordable housing in the remotest locations of our country in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of Housing for All,” Renu Sud Karnad, the Managing Director of HDFC, said.
HDFC is currently India’s largest mortgage lender, with a distribution network of 546 interconnected offices extending to several towns and cities across the South Asian nation.
