Mumbai, Nov. 23 -- Jio Payments Bank Ltd is aggressively expanding its sales network to catch up with market leader Airtel Payments Bank, with the aim of using this wider reach to acquire customers for its more profitable financial products.

Instead of having traditional bank branches, a payments bank conducts business through business correspondents who work on a commission. Jio Payments Bank, a unit of Jio Financial Services Ltd, nearly quadrupled its sales network between July and September this year to nearly 200,000 business correspondents.

Market leader Airtel Payments Bank has a network of 500,000 business correspondents, which it gradually built over a five-year period between 2017 and 2021. The network has stayed at that level ...