As part of the Department of Posts, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) unveiled its Self Help Group (SHG) Savings Account on Thursday with the goal of fostering financial inclusion and empowering women-led SHGs throughout rural India.

The IPPB SHG Savings Account is intended to be a zero balance, zero fee account to guarantee affordability; it is digitally enabled to make onboarding simple; and it is made available through the extensive network of Post Offices and Postmen/Gramin Dak Sevaks.

The main features are no minimum initial deposit, no Monthly Average Balance (MAB), a maximum balance limit of Rs 200,000, quarterly interest payments at the applicable savings rates, no fees for cash deposits and withdrawals, one complimentary physical account statement each month, no fees for closing an account, and no fees for issuing a QR card.

“Our goal at IPPB is to make banking straightforward, affordable, and inclusive for every Indian. R Viswesvaran, MD and CEO of IPPB, stated that the SHG Savings Account is a step toward empowering women-led SHGs by giving them a dependable and affordable banking solution.

Viswesvaran stated, “We aim to empower SHGs to participate more actively in the formal financial ecosystem and promote sustainable economic growth by utilizing our doorstep banking model and digital infrastructure.”

Self Help Groups have played a key role in promoting rural economic change in India and are strongly associated with major initiatives like the National Rural Livelihoods Mission under the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) and initiatives funded by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

IPPB seeks to increase financial access for SHGs by combining doorstep banking services with digital on-boarding, supported by the Department of Posts’ (DoP) unmatched postal network and its own digital capabilities, which are leveraged by a large network of postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS).