RBI urges banks, e-commerce firms to improve relations

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks and ecommerce companies to establish better relations among them and it is also open to the idea of both forming joint ventures with each other, where ecommerce companies can act as banking correspondents. “Banks will have to take cognisance of e-commerce the way it is galloping,” RBI deputy governor HR Khan has said.

The way banks have formed a partnership with several telecom companies to make instant fund transfer possible, same theory can be applied for tie-ups between the banks and online venture. “We will have to see how we provide a platform between e-commerce and banks,” he added.

A recent report by Google-Forrester said India will have 100 million online shoppers by 2016 and India's e-tailing market will touch 15 billion dollars (about Rs 92,600 crores) by then, up from just about three billion dollars (over Rs 18,500 crores) now even as the customer base is expected to grow to 100 million by 2016 from 35 million this calendar.