ICICI Bank Ltd has announced a new digital service through which existing customers of the bank can open a Public Provident Fund (PPF) account instantly online. PPF is a fixed income instrument designed to achieve long-terms goals. PPF fits in almost all types of portfolios, as the returns are better compared to its peers, like fixed deposits.
Till a few years ago, only post offices and two nationalised banks—State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank—offered services to open PPF accounts. But in the past few years, besides other nationalised banks, some private banks have also started offering this service. Also, till now, an applicant had to visit a bank or a post office branch to complete the process of opening a PPF account. Even in the existing online PPF account opening facilities, including that of State Bank of India as well as ICICI Bank, the online facility was limited to filling the application form online. The applicant had to print the form and submit it to a bank branch along with KYC documents.
