RuPay basics

What is it?

RuPay is a combination of two words – Rupee and Payment. RuPay Card is an Indian version of credit/debit card. It is very similar to international cards such as Visa/Master.

Who initiated it?

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) initiated the launch of RuPay card in India. It was done with the intention of integration of payment systems in the country. It has also tied up with Discover Financial Services firm for promoting this.

How will it work?

RuPay debit cards are similar any other debit cards that you might hold now. You can access them in the 1.45 lakh ATMs and 8.75 lakh POS terminals across the country. It will also be accepted on 10,000 e-commerce websites. All major public sector banks, including SBI, have started issuing these cards to all their customers. The card also comes with a high end technology chip named EMV (Europay, Master Card and Visa) especially for high end transactions. It also has an embedded micro processor circuit with information about the card holder.

What are the Benefits of RuPay card?

Lower transaction cost – International transactions lead to higher transaction costs. Such costs can be reduced by using RuPay card since processing will be done within the country. Also, transactions will be faster.

Sms alerts – Users will get alerts for every transaction made through this card.

Reduced processing fees – Processing fees for RuPay card compared with regular debit/credit cards will be considerably lower.

Lower cost and affordability : Since the transaction processing will happen domestically, it would lead to lower cost of clearing and settlement for each transaction. This will make the transaction cost affordable and will drive usage of cards in the industry. Customized product offering : RuPay, being a domestic scheme is committed towards development of customized product and service offerings for Indian consumers. Protection of information related to Indian consumers : Transaction and customer data related to RuPay card transactions will reside in India. Provide electronic product options to untapped/unexplored consumer segment :  There are under-penetrated/untapped consumers segments in rural areas that do not have access to banking and financial services. Right pricing of RuPay products would make the RuPay cards more economically feasible for banks to offer to their customers. In addition, relevant product variants would ensure that banks can target the hitherto untapped consumer segments. Inter-operability between payment channels and products :  RuPay card is uniquely positioned to offer complete inter-operability between various payments channels and products. NPCI currently offers varied solutions across platforms including ATMs, mobile technology, cheques etc and is extremely well placed in nurturing RuPay cards across these platforms. The solution offers enhanced security measures in addition to the RBI mandated 2-Factor authentication viz. registration, OTP, image based authentication and anti-phishing measures. Highly secure with unique anti-phishing properties User friendly and smooth adaptability Simplified architecture & transaction flow reduces transaction time, resulting in faster transaction processing and reduction in drop-outs Customer Experience: During the online payment the cardholder’s authentication data is collected in a secured manner. Further, with help of a bank themed (Looks exactly similar to the card that the customer is holding) PIN pad the cardholder has to enter the PIN number while making the payment. The pad shuffles each time a digit is entered as an additional security measure.