Airtel Payments Bank (APBL) has joined hands with Mastercard to develop customized solutions for payments such as tap-and-pay NFC (Near Field Communication), credit facility and other services for customers across the underbanked spectrum including farmers, small and medium enterprises and retail customers.

As part of the Government’s vision of Digital India and Banking for every Indian, both entities have been working towards driving adoption of formal banking and digital payments in the country.

The collaboration will bring together Mastercard’s global and local experience in developing advanced financial solutions and Airtel Payments Bank’s strong distribution network to reach the last mile and its large customer base.

“The collaboration aims at building a digital platform which provides farmers with knowledge about advanced farming techniques and connection to marketplaces, while simultaneously enabling them to receive payments directly in their Airtel Payments Bank account,” the company said in a statement.

Airtel Payments Bank currently hosts 4 crore customers across 5,00,000 banking points. The platform will provide farmers with access to neighbourhood banking, earnings stability and income growth. This will be a significant move towards building a cashless economy.

“These solutions will enable them to access a larger market base, receive payments easily into their bank accounts, safeguard their money against risks associated with cash and get easy access to credit. The partnership will also play an important role towards achieving Mastercard’s goal to empower India’s merchants with digital payments acceptance infrastructure by the end of this year,” Porush Singh, Division President, South Asia, Mastercard said.

Airtel Payments Bank and Mastercard will work together to create differentiated card solutions, including solutions for contact less payments via NFC (Near Field Communication) for customers and merchants. NFC payment works when users pay with their smartphones in lieu of credit cards simply by waving their phone in front of a terminal.

Anubrata Biswas, MD and CEO, Airtel Payments Bank said “..we aim to create products that will motivate customers to adapt formal banking behaviour and start opting for digital payments. These solutions will be an addition to our existing differentiated bouquet of easy, accessible and convenient banking and payment solutions to serve the underserved and unbanked population.”

The two companies have been working together for last three years to offer Mastercard powered debit cards to its savings bank account customers in the country.