RUPAY
CARDS - ECONOMY
News:
RuPay, UPI payment
services rolled out in Mauritius, Sri Lanka
What's
in the news?
●
RuPay cards and Unified Payments Interface
(UPI) connectivity between India and
Mauritius, as well as UPI connectivity between India and Sri Lanka were established to deepen financial
integration and to facilitate digital payments among citizens of the three
countries.
Key
takeaways:
●
An Indian traveller to Mauritius will now
be able to pay a merchant in Mauritius using UPI. Similarly, a Mauritian
traveller will be able to pay a merchant in India using the Instant Payment System (IPS) app of
Mauritius.
●
Further, with the adoption of RuPay
technology, the MauCAS card scheme of
Mauritius will enable banks in Mauritius to issue RuPay cards domestically.
Such cards can be used at ATMs and PoS terminals locally in Mauritius as well
as in India.
Uniqueness:
●
With this, Mauritius becomes the first country outside Asia to issue cards
using RuPay technology. Indian RuPay cards would also be accepted at ATMs and
PoS terminals in Mauritius.
Role
of Authorities:
●
These projects had been developed and
executed by NPCI International Payments
Ltd (NIPL) along with partner banks
/ non-banks from Mauritius and Sri Lanka, under the guidance and support of the
RBI.
Significance:
●
The digital
payments connectivity with Sri Lanka will enable Indian travellers to make
QR code-based payments at merchant locations in Sri Lanka using their UPI apps.
Go
back to basics:
RuPay
Card:
●
It is an Indian domestic card scheme
conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Mission:
●
To fulfil the Reserve Bank of India’s
vision of having a domestic, open-loop and multilateral system of payments in
India.
●
It works to enable electronic payment at
all Indian banks and financial institutions.
Significance
of RuPay Card:
1.
Lower cost and affordability:
●
Since the transaction processing will
happen domestically, it would lead to a lower cost of clearing and settlement
for each transaction.
●
This will make the transaction cost
affordable and will drive the usage of cards in the industry.
2.
Customized Product Offering:
●
RuPay, being a domestic scheme is
committed towards the development of customized product and service offerings
for Indian consumers.
3.
Protection of Information Related to Indian Consumers:
●
Transaction and customer data related to
RuPay card transactions will reside in India.
Go
back to basics:
NPCI:
●
It is an umbrella organisation launched in
2008 by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.
●
It is owned by a consortium of banks, is
aimed at creating robust payments and settlement systems.