Bharti Airtel forged a partnership with India’s third-largest private bank Axis Bank to jointly develop a range of fintech offerings, aiming to speed adoption of digital services in tier-two and -three markets across the country.

In joint statement, Axis Bank MD and CEO Amitabh Chaudhry noted the collaboration will help widen access to credit and various fintech offerings for Airtel’s 340 million customers.

Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO for India and South Asia at Airtel, stated its customers will gain access to Axis Bank’s financial services portfolio and exclusive benefits, while the bank will benefit from the operator’s digital capabilities and wide distribution reach.

Axis Bank will tap into Airtel’s suite of digital services, including its virtual contact centre and cybersecurity platform. In future, the companies said they will explore collaborating across cloud and data centre services.

The tie-up started with the launch of an Airtel Axis Bank credit card available to eligible Airtel customers, providing pre-approved instant loans, buy now pay later and cashback offerings.