Bharti Airtel (Airtel) and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), on Friday, launched WhatsApp Banking Services for IPPB customers, enabling them to access banking services on their mobile phones.
The WhatsApp messaging solution will be delivered to customers through Airtel IQ – a cloud communications platform as a service that enables brands to engage with their customers across voice, SMS, and WhatsApp channels, Airtel said in a statement.
Airtel is the first telecom company in the world that serves as a Business Service Provider (BSP) for WhatsApp.
Airtel will enable IPPB customers to seamlessly connect with the bank on WhatsApp and effortlessly avail a host of banking services, including – doorstep service requests, locating the nearest Post Office, and much more.
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The Airtel – IPPB WhatsApp Banking solution is also working to build multi-language support, enabling added convenience to customers especially to those in the rural parts of the country to access banking services in their preferred language, it said.
“We believe that financial services driven by technology have great potential and can go a long way in ensuring that the best financial products reach the farthest corners of the country,” Gursharan Rai Bansal, Chief General Manager and Chief Sales Marketing Officer – India Post Payments Bank said. Airtel has been working with IPPB to deliver as many as 250 million messages per month to the bank’s customers many of whom are located in mofussil towns and tier-2, 3 cities.
The addition of the WhatsApp messaging will add to customer’s accessibility to connect with the bank on their fingertips, furthering Digital India mission of the government, as part of which IPPB has been working to deliver banking services in the rural pockets of the country, it said.
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“With the addition of WhatsApp messaging to the existing SMS and voice communication that we offer to India Post Payments Bank customers, we will further enable a two-way communication between the bank and their customers,” Abhishek Biswal, Business Head – Airtel IQ said.
IPPB and Airtel IQ are working towards further integrating a Live interactive customer support agent into the WhatsApp solution, which will enable customers to access 24X7 support and get quick resolutions for their queries, he added.
