As the deadline to apply for a payments bank licence expired yesterday, top companies including Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Bharti Airtel all threw their hats into the ring. The Future Group, led by veteran retail player Kishore Biyani, has tied up with IDFC while there is this talk of Yes Bank joining hands with Vodafone. So why this rush? Here are more details on this scramble for payments bank licences as well as views from Shinjini Kumar - Executive Director, PwC India on why this level of excitement.