SBI, Reliance Jio extend partnership to digital payments area, will help state-run lender ramp up customer base

Mumbai: State Bank and Reliance Jio, which are partners in a payment bank venture, on Thursday extended the same to the digital payments space that will help ramp up the nation’s largest lender’s digital customer base multi-fold. SBI and Jio has a joint venture for payment bank- Jio Payments Bank, wherein Jio holds 70 percent and the balance is with SBI. But the JV is yet to operationalise despite getting the licences more than two years ago. Under the partnership, SBI Yono, an omnichannel platform offering digital banking, commerce and financial superstore services, will be enabled through the MyJio platform to customers, while MyJio, the over-the-top (OTT) mobile application, will bring in financial services capabilities of SBI and Jio Payments Bank. [caption id=“attachment_4402725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] “We are delighted to partner with Jio. All areas of cooperation are mutually beneficial, enhancing the digital footprint for SBI customers,” SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar said in a joint statement. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani joined him saying, “the scale of SBI’s customer base is unmatched. Jio is committed to using its network combined with the retail ecosystem to accelerate digital adoption serving all needs of customers of SBI and Jio.” Jio and SBI customers will benefit from Jio Prime, a consumer engagement and commerce platform from Reliance, which will offer exclusive deals from Reliance Retail, Jio, partner brands and merchants. In addition, with an integration between SBI Rewardz (SBI’s loyalty programme) and Jio Prime, sBI customers will be offered additional loyalty reward earning opportunities as well as broader redemption within Reliance, Jio and other online and physical partner ecosystems. (Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd)