New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS): India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has successfully disbursed over Rs 45,000 crore in Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT) to beneficiaries under various government schemes, said the Ministry of Communication while marking IPPB's seventh Foundation Day on Sunday.

Launched on September 1, 2018, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, IPPB was established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication to provide the most accessible, affordable, and trusted digital banking services to underserved and unbanked families at their doorstep.

In the last seven years, the IPPB enabled paperless, cashless and presence-less banking while acquiring over 9.88 crore customer accounts.

"As we celebrate seven years of empowering India’s underserved communities, we are proud of the impact IPPB has made so far. Our mission remains steadfast -- to make banking accessible to every household in India, especially in the farthest corners of the country, including the North-East," said Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Communication, in a statement.

“We look forward to continuing our journey towards financial inclusion with renewed vigour and innovation,” he added.

The Ministry noted that the IPPB leveraged India Post's extensive network of over 161,000 post offices and 1,90,000 postal employees, to make significant strides in bridging the financial inclusion gap in the last seven years.

Other key achievements include onboarding more than 12 lakh merchants, facilitating mobile number updates for Aadhaar cards for over 7.10 crore customers, and enabling digital life certificate services for more than 20 lakh pensioners in the country.

IPPB delivers simple and affordable banking solutions through intuitive interfaces available in 13 languages. It also promotes a cashless economy and contributes to the vision of Digital India.

The Ministry said that the IPPB will continue its commitment to expand reach and enhance the service offerings to meet the evolving needs of its customers.