India telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar have signed two separate agreements with two banks on January 12, 2011 to provide banking services through mobile phones, according to the Wall Street Journal. As per the agreement between Bharti Airtel and SBI (State Bank of India), the two companies will set up a joint venture in order to offer banking and financial services via mobile phones. It is reported that SBI will hold 51% stake in the JV. Under the agreement between Vodafone Essar and ICIC Bank, the two partners plan to offer mobile banking service in rural India.