Airpay & MSCB: UPI Payments Across Maharashtra

New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Airpay Payment Services on Friday said it has partnered with Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank (MSCB) to enable UPI-based digital payments across the lender's network in the state to accelerate financial inclusion in rural areas.

The rollout will cover over 21,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), 31 District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs), and 55 MSCB branches, bringing QR-based UPI payment acceptance to farmers, traders and small merchants at no additional cost, the two entities said in a statement.

MSCB, regarded as the largest state cooperative bank in India, currently handles an annual business volume of about Rs 62,000 crore, a significant share of which is expected to shift to digital transactions.

The partnership comes amid a broader push by regulators and institutions, such as NABARD and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to digitise cooperative banks.


"We are proud to power Maharashtra's apex cooperative bank with a UPI acquiring stack that reaches 21,214 village-level societies. Thousands of grassroots micro-merchants and unorganised retail merchants will now access a seamless digital banking experience comparable to that offered by leading private sector banks," Kunal Jhunjhunwala, founder, Airpay Payment Services, said.

MSCB Chairman Vidyadhar Anaskar described the initiative as a step towards integrating over 21,000 village-level societies into the national digital payments grid, positioning the cooperative network as a key player in the digital economy.

The bank is targeting 11-15 crore digital transactions annually, with projected business volumes of around Rs 1.2 lakh crore through digital channels, bringing its scale closer to that of a mid-sized public sector bank.

The rollout is aligned with the government's push to digitise the cooperative sector under the Ministry of Cooperation and complies with RBI guidelines on digital payments and KYC norms.