As India begins to open up following the COVID-19 lockdown, Airtel Payments Bank today announced the launch of ‘Suraksha Salary Account’ - an innovative salary account for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

India’s MSME sector has over 60 Mn units and accounts for 29% of India’s GDP. These units employ large number of informal labour force who are not eligible for social and healthcare benefits as part of their salaries. The lack of any financial protection makes them highly vulnerable, particularly in the current times.

Suraksha Salary account has been designed specifically for this consumer cohort. Through this innovative account construct, MSMEs and other organisations will be able to make cashless payments and also provide a financial security blanket to their employees. Suraksha Salary account offers a wide range of benefits including Hospicash Insurance and Personal Accidental insurance cover given the low penetration of insurance in India.

•FREE Hospicash Insurance: In the event of hospitalization, the account holder would be entitled to a fixed cover of Rs 400/day up to a maximum of 10 days. The policy will cover COVID-19 as well and mitigate the impact on the account holder due to potential loss of pay and savings during hospitalization.

•FREE Accidental Insurance: The account holder also gets free of charge group accidental cover of Rs 1 lakh. This ensures added financial protection for the family.
•Zero Minimum Balance: The account has no minimum balance condition.

We are delighted to launch Suraksha Salary Account to serve the specific needs of the people employed in Indias MSME segment

•Easy Withdrawals: The account holder can make convenient cash withdrawals at Airtel Payments Bank’s 500,000 banking points across India. Customers can also make cash deposits and transfer money at these points.
•Zero charges on cash transactions: There are no charges on cash withdrawals of upto Rs 50,000 and deposits of upto Rs 20,000 in one month. The account holder also gets two free cardless cash withdrawal via IMT at ATMs across the country.
•FREE bank to bank money transfers across India: the account holder can make online money transfers to any bank across India.

Anubrata Biswas, MD and CEO, Airtel Payments Bank said, “We are delighted to launch Suraksha Salary Account to serve the specific needs of the people employed in India’s MSME segment. Our research reflected how lack of protection makes the workforce susceptible to financial setbacks, particularly in case of illness. With this consumer insight, we developed the Suraksha Salary Account to enable MSMEs to offer financial protection and formal banking experience to their employees. This innovative account is an important addition to our existing portfolio of customized products that are aimed at driving financial inclusion in the country.”

Suraksha Salary Account construct enables businesses to disburse salaries in a seamlessly convenient manner and also maintain records digitally for future references and tax processes. To begin with the product will be available only to new to bank customers. It will be soon made available to the existing customers who wishes to operate their salary accounts with Airtel Payments Bank.