Bandhan Bank Gets RBI Nod i.e. the bank has secured authorization from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to disburse pensions to retired railway employees on behalf of the Railway Ministry, the private sector bank in a statement announced on December 13. PTI reported that the bank will soon integrate its payment system with the ministry to start the process.

Indian Railways is one of the country’s largest employers, with around 12 lakh employees. It will grant the bank access to all its pensioners and an additional 50,000 pensioners who join its ranks annually across the country. This includes the Indian Railway’s 17 zonal offices and eight production units. Bandhan Bank, which has around 3.17 crore customers, is expected to witness a significant increase in its customer base with the addition of railway pensioners. It operates over 1,600 branches, 4,600 outlets, and 438 ATMs across 35 states and union territories. As Bandhan Bank Gets RBI Nod to disburse pensions, it will shortly start the process.

In August, RBI appointed the bank as the pension disbursement agency for civil pensioners on behalf of the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO), Ministry of Finance. This allowed the bank to disburse pensions to central government employees in civil ministries (excluding defense, railways, and postal departments), the national capital territory of Delhi, union territory administrations without legislatures, retired judges of the high courts and the supreme court, all India service officers, former members of parliament, and former presidents and vice presidents of India, the bank said in a press release.

Commenting on disbursing railway pensions, Debraj Saha, head of government business at Bandhan Bank, said: “Indian Railways is one of the largest employers in the country. This (approval) will help pensioners get access to competitive rates and other products of the lender.”

With Bandhan Bank, pensioners can enjoy in-person branch and digital banking services. It also offers senior citizen-specific services, like higher interest rates on fixed deposits (FDs), doorstep banking, and savings account services. On December 4, 2023, the bank revised its FD rates, offering seniors the highest rate of 8.35 per cent for a 500-day tenure.