Context: Recently, the Department of Posts has now extended all small savings schemes upto the Branch Post Office level.
Key Points

• The decision aims to empower rural India by bringing all Post Office Savings schemes to the doorstep of the people living in rural areas. 
• The Extension was done in order to strengthen its network and postal operations in rural areas and provide facility of small savings scheme to the vast majority in villages.

Benefits

• The new order has allowed Branch Post Offices to offer facilities of Public Provident Fund, Monthly Income Scheme, National Savings Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra and Senior Citizen Savings Schemes also.
• People living in villages will now be able to get the same Post Office Savings Bank facilities which people in urban areas have been availing.
• They will be able to deposit their savings into these popular schemes through the post office in their village itself.

About India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)

• India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is a financial service provider that will operate under the country’s postal department.
• The government-owned payments bank will be able to accept deposits of up to Rs. 1 lakh from customers.
• But they do not have the rights to use these funds to advance risky loans at higher interest rates.
• India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) offers three types of savings accounts—regular, digital and basic.
• The primary rationale is to help in the goal of achieving financial inclusion.
• India’s age-old postal department has a wide network of branches across India, IPPB can thus offer savings, remittance, and payments services to the rural and unorganised sectors.
• IPPB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deparment of Post, with 100 percent Government of India equity.
• It will be governed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI).