Best telco to ace “Financial Services”: Bharti Airtel (Asia Pacific telecom service provider winners 2022)

Summary

Telecom operators are increasingly redeploying free cash flow from their core connectivity businesses into high-growth adjacent segments, and financial services stands out as one of the most promising. Telcos bring distinct advantages to this space, including an existing large customer base, the ability to bundle services for advanced client management, and mobile and internet penetration that often exceeds traditional banking reach, particularly in underbanked emerging markets.

An Indian operator's payments bank subsidiary has become one of the country's leading neobanks, using an extensive network of retail outlets as banking touchpoints to bring formal financial services into rural and previously unbanked regions. A dedicated pension scheme extends social security benefits to workers in the unorganised sector, addressing a gap that traditional banks have historically underserved.

The payments bank has scaled rapidly, growing its deposit base substantially while becoming one of the fastest-growing banks in the country by user count and merchant network. Competitive interest rates on larger savings deposits have helped drive this growth, and the business has moved into sustained profitability, illustrating how a telecom-backed banking model can achieve both scale and financial viability in a market with significant unmet demand.

How is a telecom-backed payments bank closing India's financial inclusion gap faster than traditional banking channels?