Govt allows Small Finance Banks & Payments Banks to offer Atal Pension Yojana

Government has allowed Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks to offer Atal Pension Yojana (APY). Finance Ministry in a statement said, 10 Small Finance Banks and 11 Payment Banks have got license from Reserve Bank of India to start banking operations in the country.

The Banks include Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Janalakshmi Small Finance Bank, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, India Post Payment Bank and Paytm Payment Bank. The Ministry said, given the strength, expertise and reach of these new age banks, they can play a pivotal role in outreach of subscribers under APY. 

The Ministry said, participation in APY not only builds a pensioned society but also adds



sustainable fee income to Banks by way of attractive incentive for mobilizing 120 to 150 rupees for each APY account. At present, over 84 lacs subscribers are registered under the APY scheme with an asset base of more than 3,194 crore rupees. 

The government had launched this social security scheme- APY in 2015 and dedicated the first ever Guaranteed Pension Product to the people of the country. The scheme is available to the people in the age group of 18 to 40 years. 

Under the scheme, a subscriber would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of 1,000 to 5,000 rupees per month from the age of 60 years depending upon the contribution.