Come March next year, banks will start issuing RuPay credit cards to their customers. Transaction powerhouse National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) plans entry into the credit card segment by allowing banks to issue them, its Managing Director and CEO AP Hota said.
“We are looking at March for this. It could happen in the January-March quarter next year,” Hota told BusinessLine here.
Banks in India are already issuing debit cards under the RuPay platform and about 190 million cards have been issued till date, including about 145 million under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan scheme.
RuPay is an Indian domestic card scheme conceived and launched by the NPCI. It facilitates electronic payments at all Indian banks and financial institutions and competes with MasterCard and Visa in India.
“Our current market share (transaction base) is 15 per cent,” Hota said, adding that the aspiration is to take this to 50 per cent in the next few years. The launch of RuPay credit cards early next year will help achieve this target, Hota said.
New initiativesNPCI is working to launch next generation Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) facility that would not only enable real-time remittances, but also help in collection of monies from various bank accounts.
Hota also said that NPCI plans to launch a Bharat Bill pay system in mid-June next year to be a one-stop solution for utility payments for consumers.