India
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Airtel Payments Bank
RBI payments bank. Scheduled. DICGC. Bharti Airtel. Not a universal bank, not a wallet.
Legal entity: Airtel Payments Bank Ltd
Rate this app
6.7Mixed
AlternativesFive questions
At a glance
Is it a bank?
Yes — Payments bank — Airtel Payments Bank Ltd. Scheduled bank (Jan 2022). Banking Regulation Act s.22 (Reserve Bank of India). Still read the entity on the statement.
If it fails?
Airtel Payments Bank Ltd is an RBI-licensed payments bank and a scheduled bank. DICGC lists Airtel Payments Bank Limited. Eligible deposits are DICGC-insured up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank. RBI payments-bank rules also cap how much you may hold — read the live deposit policy on airtelpayments.bank.in. This is a bank class, not a PPI wallet. It is not a full commercial bank: credit/lending is restricted.
Salary?
A payments-bank account can receive UPI/IMPS credits within the class limit. Many employers still want a commercial-bank account. Confirm.
Open from abroad?
Indian KYC (Aadhaar / PAN). Not an NRI mill.
Monthly fee
Confirm live tariff
Account number
No IBAN-class local rail on this file.
NeoBankDBVerdict
Licence first · score second
6.7
/10 · Mixed
Airtel Payments Bank Ltd is an RBI payments bank (licence under Banking Regulation Act s.22; first payments-bank licence in 2016; scheduled-bank status January 2022). Registered office on their contact page: 5th Floor, Sewa Towers, Udyog Vihar Phase-IV, Gurgaon 122015. DICGC lists Airtel Payments Bank Limited. Eligible deposits follow DICGC up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank. RBI payments-bank rules also cap the end-of-day balance — read the live deposit policy; this file does not invent the rupee figure. Fi and Jupiter sit at partner scheduled banks. Niyo is travel. IPPB and Fino are the other payments-bank files. Use Airtel Payments Bank as a UPI / small-deposit bank. Do not treat it as HDFC.
What it is
Airtel’s bank, not Airtel’s wallet. The payments-bank class is the whole Indian story: DICGC yes, credit no, balance cap yes.
Best for: Indian residents who want an RBI payments bank for UPI and small deposits — not a salary-plus-loan home.
Last checked 2026-09-03. Not advice.
What it does well
- +Named RBI payments bank, scheduled
- +DICGC listed
- +Airtel distribution
- +Not a PPI wallet
What to watch
- −Payments-bank class cannot be a full lender
- −End-of-day deposit-size limit — read the live policy
- −Not Fi/Jupiter’s partner-bank current-account story
- −India-resident
Legal entity, not the app icon
Who is behind it
- Legal name
- Airtel Payments Bank Ltd
- Parent
- Bharti Airtel
- Offices
- 5th Floor, Sewa Towers, Udyog Vihar Phase-IV, Gurgaon 122015
- If something goes wrong
- Principal Nodal Officer named on airtelpayments.bank.in/static/contact-us
The product, not the brand colour
The account
- Platforms
- iOS · Android · USSD / Airtel channels
- Account types
- Savings · Current (payments-bank class)
- Partner bank
- Airtel Payments Bank Ltd
- Availability
- India
- Remote open
- Indian KYC (Aadhaar / PAN). Not an NRI mill.
- Onboarding
- Airtel Payments Bank app / Airtel retail. Aadhaar + PAN as asked.
- KYC documents
- Aadhaar and PAN are the usual stack.
- Salary / payroll
- A payments-bank account can receive UPI/IMPS credits within the class limit. Many employers still want a commercial-bank account. Confirm.
- Local rails
- UPI / IMPS / NEFT on a payments bank
How money actually moves
- Who holds the cash
- Insured bank deposit
- How money moves
- UPI / INR
- Built for
- Personal
- Settlement
- App-ledger instant; bank rails per corridor
- Freeze risk
- Bank-grade; still not freeze-proof
- Card
- visa · physical · virtual · Google Pay
Licence first
Safety
Airtel Payments Bank Ltd is an RBI-licensed payments bank and a scheduled bank. DICGC lists Airtel Payments Bank Limited. Eligible deposits are DICGC-insured up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank. RBI payments-bank rules also cap how much you may hold — read the live deposit policy on airtelpayments.bank.in. This is a bank class, not a PPI wallet. It is not a full commercial bank: credit/lending is restricted.
Holder / issuer: Airtel Payments Bank Ltd
- Reserve Bank of IndiaPayments bank — Airtel Payments Bank Ltd. Scheduled bank (Jan 2022). Banking Regulation Act s.22 · India
Fees
- Monthly
- Confirm live tariff
- FX markup
- Not a travel-FX product (Niyo Global is the travel SKU in this catalog)
- ATM
- Confirm live
Features
- –IBAN
- –Fee-free core
- –Multi-currency
- –Apple Pay
- ✓Google Pay
- ✓Virtual card
- ✓Physical card
- –Metal card
- –Crypto
- –Stocks
- –Business
- –Kids
- –Halal
- RBI payments bank
- DICGC member
- UPI / savings / current
- Airtel distribution
- Deposit-size limits of the payments-bank class
Before you tap Sign up
How to open
Step 1
Name the class
RBI payments bank. DICGC. Not a PPI. Not a universal bank.
Step 2
Aadhaar + PAN
App or Airtel retail. Full KYC if you want the limits raised.
Step 3
Read the deposit cap
Payments-bank end-of-day limit is on the live deposit policy. DICGC is a separate Rs 5 lakh scheme.
Official help: www.airtelpayments.bank.in/static/contact-us
Operator documents
Their own papers
These are the operator’s documents. They outrank this review if they disagree.
Score
- Safety25%
- 7.6
- Fees20%
- 7.8
- Features15%
- 7.0
- App15%
- 7.6
- Global15%
- 2.4
- Support10%
- 6.8
Change log
Full logLicence
Scheduled-bank status for Airtel Payments Bank Ltd
RBI payments bank, first payments-bank licence 2016. DICGC lists Airtel Payments Bank Limited. Payments-bank balance-size limits still apply.
Available in
Straight answers
FAQ
01Is Airtel Payments Bank a bank?
Airtel Payments Bank holds a banking-style licence (Reserve Bank of India). Still read the legal entity on the statement, not the app icon.
02How is money protected?
Airtel Payments Bank Ltd is an RBI-licensed payments bank and a scheduled bank. DICGC lists Airtel Payments Bank Limited. Eligible deposits are DICGC-insured up to Rs 5 lakh per depositor per bank. RBI payments-bank rules also cap how much you may hold — read the live deposit policy on airtelpayments.bank.in. This is a bank class, not a PPI wallet. It is not a full commercial bank: credit/lending is restricted.
03Where is Airtel Payments Bank available?
We list 1 market on NeoBankDB. Residency and onboarding rules still sit with Airtel Payments Bank.
04Card and wallets?
visa · physical · virtual · Google Pay
05Can I open Airtel Payments Bank remotely?
Indian KYC (Aadhaar / PAN). Not an NRI mill.
06What is the legal name behind Airtel Payments Bank?
Airtel Payments Bank Ltd. Read the entity on the statement, not the app icon.
07Can I receive salary on Airtel Payments Bank?
A payments-bank account can receive UPI/IMPS credits within the class limit. Many employers still want a commercial-bank account. Confirm.
08How do I complain about Airtel Payments Bank?
NeoBankDB names this complaint route: Principal Nodal Officer named on airtelpayments.bank.in/static/contact-us. That is the ombudsman / regulator path, not in-app chat.
09What documents does Airtel Payments Bank ask for?
Aadhaar and PAN are the usual stack.
10Is Airtel Payments Bank DICGC insured?
Yes — Airtel Payments Bank Limited is on DICGC’s insured-banks list. Eligible deposits follow DICGC. The payments-bank product still has RBI balance-size rules.
Ratings and reviews
No published user reviews yet. The NeoBankDB score still comes from licence, fees, and the product — not from an empty star average.
Alternatives
Full alternatives page
Fino Payments Bank
RBI payments bank. DICGC. Navi Mumbai. Merchant-plus-app. Not a universal bank.
6.5Mixed
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