What Is a Bank CSP? BC and Grahak Seva Kendra

Someone at the tea stall tells you, “Take a bank CSP, the bank gives you work.” Someone else calls the same thing a Grahak Seva Kendra. A third person says BC. You’d like to know whether these are three things or one, and what exactly you’d be signing up for.

Here’s the short version. Bank CSP, BC and Grahak Seva Kendra are three labels. No RBI document cited here defines Grahak Seva Kendra, so treat it as a label used by banks and providers until your own agreement defines it. The rest of this post sorts out the other two, explains what a BC can and can’t do for bank KYC, and gives you a list of questions to ask a bank before you commit.

What does RBI call it?

The term RBI’s documents use is Business Correspondent. RBI’s discussion paper on Business Correspondents (undated page, with dates to 2010) says RBI issued guidelines in January 2006 for banks to engage BCs. It describes them as “retail agents engaged by banks for providing banking services at locations other than a bank branch/ATM”. It adds that banks must take full responsibility for the acts of omission and commission of the BCs they engage.

“CSP” and “Grahak Seva Kendra” don’t appear in that paper, in the AePS directions or in the KYC Directions cited here. But RBI’s speech of 8 September 2015, by Deputy Governor R. Gandhi at the M R Pai Memorial Lecture, does use the term: “Business Correspondents and Business Facilitators were allowed to act as Customer Service Point (CSP) for e-KYC purpose”.

There’s one more name you may hear. RBI’s 2024-25 draft of its AePS directions described AePS as working “through the Business Correspondent (BC) / Bank Mitra of any bank”. The final directions of 27 June 2025 don’t use “Bank Mitra”. They refer to a person acting “as Business Correspondent / sub-agent”.

Who is who in the arrangement?

Three parties show up in the RBI documents.

• The bank engages the BC and is responsible for the BC’s acts. The current KYC Directions also keep the bank responsible for customer due diligence and periodic KYC updation.
• The BC or sub-agent deals with customers for the bank. Which of these describes you depends on your agreement, so ask the bank to say which.
• The AePS touchpoint operator is the individual onboarded by the acquiring bank who operates an AePS touchpoint. Where the bank has already done due diligence on that person as a BC or sub-agent, it may adopt it (see the AePS directions of 27 June 2025).

The practical lesson is simple. “Who appointed me?” should have a written answer. If it doesn’t, you don’t yet know whose outlet you’re running.

RBI’s Master Directions index lists the Commercial Banks - Branch Authorisation Directions, 2025 and the Responsible Business Conduct Directions, 2025, both updated as on 1 October 2026. This post quotes no BC eligibility, distance, commission or customer-charge rule from them, so ask the bank which provisions apply to your outlet.

What does AePS have to do with it?

For payments, RBI’s Payment System Report, December 2025 says AePS operates “through Business Correspondents of banks, using Aadhaar authentication”. Its services include cash deposit, cash withdrawal, balance enquiry, mini statement, Aadhaar-to-Aadhaar fund transfer and BHIM Aadhaar Pay.

But a service being listed in an RBI report doesn’t switch it on for your outlet. Ask which services the bank has enabled for you.

What may a BC do for bank KYC?

RBI’s Know Your Customer Directions, 2025 for commercial banks (RBI/DOR/2025-26/169, 28 November 2025, updated as on 1 October 2026) give a BC specific, limited roles. Separate KYC Directions exist for other bank types, including regional rural banks, urban and rural co-operative banks, small finance banks and payments banks, and this post doesn’t cover those.

• Biometric authentication. “A bank official, business correspondent, or business facilitator can perform biometric-based e-KYC authentication, including Aadhaar Face Authentication”.
• Digital KYC process. Paragraph 24 says the bank “may use the services of Business Correspondent (BC) for this process”.
• Assisted video KYC. Under paragraph 27, a bank “shall permit assisted V-CIP when it takes help of Business Correspondents (BCs) to facilitate the process only at the customer end”. The bank must keep details of the BC assisting, and “shall have the ultimate responsibility for customer due diligence”.
• Updating existing KYC. Paragraph 42 lets a bank obtain a self-declaration through an authorised BC where there’s no change in KYC information, or a change only in address. For physical submissions, the BC authenticates the declaration and documents, forwards them promptly to the bank branch and gives the customer an acknowledgment of receipt. The bank updates the records and “retains the ultimate responsibility for periodic updation of KYC”.

Three limits follow from this. The BC assists, and the bank completes and answers for the check. The bank decides whether to enable these processes for its BCs. And the passages set no processing time, so don’t promise a customer one.

How are CSPs paid?

No RBI document cited here sets a commission rate, and this post gives none. If someone quotes you a monthly figure as “typical”, don’t accept it. No cited document supports an income claim of any size, and anyone who names one for your shop is guessing.

Pay terms sit in your agreement, so ask for the schedule before you commit:

1. What is paid for each type of transaction, and what is fixed?
2. Who pays you: the bank, or a company that manages BCs for the bank?
3. What can be deducted, and on what grounds?
4. When is the payment made, and into which account?
5. What happens to any deferred part if the arrangement ends?

How do you choose a bank?

No cited RBI document ranks banks or publishes commission data, so this post doesn’t rank them either. A ranking here would be an opinion dressed up as a fact. Use these checks instead:

The “local demand” row is worth a walk down your own street. Ask ten people which bank they use. It costs nothing, and it tells you more than any brochure. Then look at who in your area would come to a CSP counter at all: people who can’t easily reach a branch, or people who don’t want to queue. If you can’t name any, that’s worth knowing before you sign.

How do you apply with a named bank?

You may see offers tied to a named bank, often under the search “bank CSP kaise le”. No cited RBI document gives requirements specific to any single bank, and none lists steps for becoming a CSP. What the sources show is general.

The bank decides whom to engage. For AePS, the acquiring bank must carry out due diligence on every touchpoint operator before onboarding (directions effective 1 January 2026). If that due diligence was already done when the person acted as a BC or sub-agent, the bank may adopt it. And the terms belong in a written agreement, so hold the commission schedule and the list of enabled services before you commit.

When you apply, contact the bank, or the company it names in writing, and check that name against the bank’s own channels. Don’t pay a fee to a third party before you hold the bank’s written terms.

What should you read in the agreement before signing?

Sit down with the document and look for answers to these, in plain words:

• The name of the party that appoints you.
• The services switched on for your outlet, listed one by one.
• The pay schedule from the section above.
• What happens to customer records and cash handling if the agreement ends.
• Who customers should complain to.

If any of these is missing, or the reply is “we’ll tell you later”, treat that as an open item. Don’t sign over an open item. Take a photo of every page you sign, and keep it with your other business papers.

Questions about bank CSPs

What is the full form of CSP?

Customer Service Point, as RBI’s 2015 speech writes it. Business Correspondent is the term in the other RBI documents cited here.

Is a CSP the same as a BC?

Not necessarily in every bank’s paperwork. Whether a bank uses CSP for the agent, the outlet or both is set by that bank, so ask for the definition in the agreement.

Can a BC open an account or update KYC?

RBI’s KYC Directions for commercial banks let a bank use BCs for biometric e-KYC authentication, the digital KYC process, assisted video KYC at the customer end, and self-declaration based updates. The bank decides what to enable. The passages cited don’t say that a BC approves a KYC or opens an account on its own.

Can I choose between banks on commission alone?

Not safely. No source here publishes commission data, so a comparison on that basis would rest on someone’s say-so. Use the checklist above and the written terms.

What can SiOnline say about this?

This post describes no SiOnline offer, onboarding route or payment. Confirm availability with SiOnline support through the help centre, the customer care page or the support page, or call +91 91091 35959, 24 hours, 7 days.

Sources and checks

• Reserve Bank of India, Discussion Paper on Engagement of ‘for-profit’ Companies as Business Correspondents, undated page, read on 17 October 2026.
• Reserve Bank of India, Commercial Banks - Know Your Customer Directions, 2025, RBI/DOR/2025-26/169, 28 November 2025, updated as on 1 October 2026, read on 17 October 2026.
• Reserve Bank of India, Aadhaar Enabled Payment System - Due Diligence of AePS Touchpoint Operators, RBI/2025-26/63, 27 June 2025, read on 17 October 2026.
• Reserve Bank of India, Aadhaar Enabled Payment System - Due Diligence of AePS Touchpoint Operators - DRAFT, draft directions for comments (2024-25), read on 17 October 2026.
• Reserve Bank of India, Financial Consumer (Depositor) Protection - Reflections on Some Lingering Questions, speech by Shri R. Gandhi, Deputy Governor, 8 September 2015, read on 17 October 2026.
• Reserve Bank of India, Payment System Report, December 2025, published 18 May 2026, read on 17 October 2026.
• Reserve Bank of India, Master Directions index, read on 17 October 2026.

For NPCI rules, check NPCI’s current AePS circulars. Banking rules change, so confirm them with the bank and the official source before you act.