On February 4, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released a list of applicants seeking to operate a payments bank in the country. Big names featured prominently on the list including Aditya Birla, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Vodafone, and more than 30 others. Even India Post threw its hat into the ring.

Clearly, companies want in. But this is no ill-conceived land-grab by India’s sprawling conglomerates. They are making a credible bid to solve one of the Indian financial system’s most long-standing and intractable issues: the country’s vast unbanked population.

As payments banks, these companies will be able to establish small interest bearing demand-deposit accounts for their existing customer base, while extending basic account access to a broad new swathe of customers. The broader economic implications for India Inc. are enormous.

“Companies like Reliance are capable of a massive roll-out across India,” Hemal Shah, a Mumbai-based partner at EY advisory services, told CT. “If these licences come through, it will revolutionise the bank industry in India.

"For example, as the fourth-largest mobile company in the world, Bharti Airtel can provide its vast subscriber base easy access to a mobile bank account.