National Securities Depository Limited(NSDL)

NSDL, one of the largest Depositories in the World.  India had a vibrant capital market which is more than a century old, the paper-based settlement of trades caused substantial problems like bad delivery and delayed transfer of title, etc.  The Reserve Bank has issued a license to the bank under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, to carry on the business of payments bank in India. NSDL Payments Bank Limited has commenced operations as a payments bank.

Benefits of NSDL

•  NSDL works to support the investors and brokers in the capital market of the country.
• It aims at ensuring the safety and soundness of Indian marketplaces by developing settlement solutions that increase efficiency, minimize risk and reduce costs.
• NSDL, we play a central role in developing products and services that will continue to nurture the growing needs of the financial services industry.
• In the depository system, securities are held in depository accounts, which is more or less similar to holding funds in bank accounts. 
• Transfer of ownership of securities is done through simple account transfers. This method does away with all the risks and hassles normally associated with paperwork.
• Consequently, the cost of transacting in a depository environment is considerably lower as compared to transacting in certificates.
• NSDL provides bouquet of services to end investors, stock brokers, stock exchanges, custodians, issuer companies etc.

Nachiket Mor Committee

• The Committee on Comprehensive Financial Services for Small Businesses and Low Income Households.
• The objective of the committee was to propose measures for achieving financial inclusion and increased access to financial services.
•  One of the key suggestions of the committee was to introduce specialized banks or ‘payments bank’ to cater to the lower income groups and small businesses.

Major recommendations of the Committee are

• Wide-spread payment network and universal access to savings.
• Sufficient access to affordable formal credit.
• Priority Sector Lending.
• Customer protection issues.

Payment Banks

• The main objective of payments bank is to widen the spread of payment and financial services to small business, low-income households, and migrant labour workforce in secured technology-driven environment.
• They are banks offering most regular banking facilities such as remittance services, cash withdrawal/deposit, net banking, third-party fund transfers and mobile payments/transfers/purchases. 
•  Payments banks cannot offer any financial products, say credit cards, of their own. They have to tie-up with other financial services providers to offer third-party products like loans and insurance to their customers.

Way forward

• NSDL has been able to win the trust of crores of investors and other intermediaries, thus standing true to its tag line −Technology, Trust and Reach. We at NSDL believe that ‘Every Indian should not only become an ‘Investor’ but a ‘Prudent Investor’ indeed.
• Vidhyalakshmi Portal for Education Loan(NSDLe-Governance).