The move comes in the wake of the government barring banks from recovering any fees from merchants accepting RuPay cards.
Paytm Payments Bank, the largest issuer of RuPay debit cards, said that it will now issue Visa cards and is targeting one crore of these next year.
The move comes in the wake of the government barring banks from recovering any fees from merchants accepting RuPay cards.
According to bankers, the government’s decision to have zero merchant discount rate (MDR, or merchant fees) on RuPay cards has caused loss to issuers. The card issuers were providing several benefits like cashback and lounge access to promote usage, which were funded by the merchant fees.
“For the first time, the bank’s customers will also be able to make international transactions using their Visa debit cards. Soon, the customers will also have an option to request for a physical card. This will enable customers to make contactless payment through their chip-inserted cards,” Paytm said in a statement.
“This partnership will allow millions of our customers to avail the benefits of Visa debit cards along with the power to make international transactions,” said Paytm Payments Bank MD & CEO Satish Kumar Gupta. Paytm has issued over 57 million digital debit cards through its mobile banking app.
Commenting on the partnership, Visa’s India chief T R Ramachandran said that debit cards, because of their ease of use, were the first choice of customers who are new to banking. “Debit cards play a critical role to migrate these customers to the digital economy and help them make non-cash transactions,” he said.
