INDIAPOST
INKS DEAL TO ISSUE 1.5 CRORE DEBIT CARDS
MUMBAI: India Post will soon issue debit cards to its 1.5
crore account holders with the Department of Post signing a Rs 30 crore deal
with CMS Info System to supply Rupay enabled cards. The Department of Post
(DOP) has over 10 crore account holders in India, and has already begun
deploying ATMs across the country in a phased manner.
The personalized debit cards for DOP
will be issued on the NPCI platform and their usage would initially only be on
ATMs installed at DOP branches, as a closed loop environment. The cards can
later be used on other ATMs with Rupay affiliation. These cards will initially
be of the magstripe variant, with the option of EMV being available to the
account holders after a set period of time.
"This deal will power issuance
of personalized cards to complement India Post's ATM deployment plans over a
three-year period. We expect this to benefit people using teller facilities at
the branches, as they can now begin to use these cards for more convenient cash
withdrawals," said Mokam Singh Matta, Head of Card Business, CMS Info
System. In addition to financial cards, CMS also personalizes Smart Cards which
are being increasingly used in large scale government projects, including
National ID, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and Employee's State Insurance
Corporation (ESIC). Some of these form a critical backbone for financial
inclusion projects in the country, he said.
India Post which is a large
mobiliser of deposits is currently awaiting approval from Reserve Bank of India
to set up the Post Bank of India. The government department, which has the
largest financial services distribution network across the country, is
presently running a large deficit on postal services. With traditional mail
services on a decline due to electronic communication, the department is looking
for opportunity in logistics and financial services.
The department has already embarked
on deploying core banking solutions which will make it easier for customers to
get service outside their home branch.
Source: The Times of India
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