The National Payments Corporation of India announced the launch of RuPay credit cards in the coming month. At present, NPCI has initiated a pilot run with 10 banks but declined to provide further information on it.
It seems like IDBI Bank might mark the first to issue RuPay credit cards and launched ‘Winnings’ Select Credit Card. NPCI is making an effort to enter RuPay accounts into cards Even though there are around 40% of debit cards in circulation.
Note CEO AP Hota declared that RuPay credit cards would be launched back in November 2016 itself. But the launch was postponed with the announcement of demonetization of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes in India.
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NPCI refused to share information on the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) retailers and how businesses will be charged. Yet, the credit cards will be made available in three variants: Classic (targeted for the masses), Platinum (targeted towards the youth), and Select (targeted at the affluent segment).
Usually, banks charge lower MDR for credit cards which target the mass segment and a higher MDR rate for Platinum cards. However, consumers get more rewards for usage and MDR is an inter-bank exchange fee which banks can charge from merchants and establishments.
However, NPCI chairman Balachandran M confirmed that the fee charge would be fixed for the product and the cost of the transaction will be lesser than the existing products in the market.
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The Rupay cards will also feature:
- Domestic and international airport lounge access.
- Domestic and international merchant offers.
- Cashback on payment of utility bills, at eateries and restaurants.
- Personal accident insurance cover.
- Domestic and international concierge services.
The total number of credit cards in circulation notes 31.32 million for the month of April. HDFC Bank leads the segment with 8.7 million cards, State Bank of India stands second with 4.68 million cards followed by ICICI Bank with 4.28 million cards.
