RuPay Credit cards, Debit Cards & International Cards | RuPay (portmanteau of Rupee and Payment) is indigenous debit, credit, international, prepaid & contactless cards, launched by NPCI to fulfill RBI’s vision to offer a domestic payment cards for all Indian banks.
Debit cards, credit cards, prepaid cards, and government scheme cards are all available through RuPay. The RuPay PMJDY, RuPay Mudra, and RuPay PunGrain debit cards, as well as the RuPay Kisan credit card, are examples of government scheme cards. It also sells combo cards that combine debit and credit, debit and prepaid, and credit and prepaid functions into one card.
In 2009, the Reserve Bank of India requested that the Indian Bank Association establish a non-profit payment company to design an indigenous payment card. India Pay was the working title for the card.
NPCI was entrusted with the implementation after years of planning, and the proposed card was given the name RuPay, a portmanteau of the words rupee and payment, to avoid naming conflicts with other financial institutions. The colours used in the logo are a reference to India’s tricolour flag. It was created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as a competitor to Mastercard and Visa, as well as a way to consolidate and integrate various payment systems in India.
The absence of a domestic price setter has caused Indian banks to bear the high cost of affiliation and connection with international card associations schemes like Visa and Mastercard, resulting in the need to route even domestic transactions, which account for more than 90%, through a switch located outside the country, according to the RBI’s vision paper 2009–2012 on payment systems in India.
On March 26, 2012, the RuPay system was launched. The then-President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, dedicated RuPay to India on May 8, 2014, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. On August 19, 2020, NPCI established an international subsidiary called NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL) to expand RuPay’s globalisation and availability in foreign markets. RuPay has a market share of 34 percent in terms of volume and 30 percent in terms of value in India as of March 2021.
On December 14, 2021, the Indian government approved a $170 million ($1,300 crore) package to promote RuPay among India’s marginalised population. This move has been dubbed “protectionism” by Mastercard and Visa, who see it as a threat to their duopoly in the Indian card payment market. Both companies also filed a complaint with the United States Trade Representative’s Office (USTR).
RuPay Card and Its Types
- RuPay Debit Card
- RuPay Classic Debit Card
- RuPay Platinum Debit Card
- RuPay Select Debit Card
- RuPay Credit Card
- RuPay Classic Credit Card
- RuPay Platinum Credit Card
- RuPay Select Credit Card
- RuPay Prepaid Card
- RuPay Classic Prepaid Card
- RuPay Corporate Prepaid Card
- RuPay Platinum Prepaid Card
- RuPay Government Scheme Card
- RuPay PMJDY Card
- RuPay Mudra Card
- RuPay PunGrain Card
- RuPay Kisan Credit Card
RuPay Debit Card
RuPay offers three types of debit cards: RuPay Classic, RuPay Platinum, and RuPay Select. RuPay Classic is the most basic RuPay-branded card, with only the most basic features such as merchant offers in categories such as dining, travel, pharmacy, lifestyle, cosmetics, retail, shopping, and jewellery. It does not include perks like access to airport lounges. Platinum is RuPay’s middle-tier offering, with all of the features of Classic plus additional offers and benefits like airport lounge access, comprehensive insurance coverage of up to 200,000 rupees, an Amazon Pay offer, and other merchant offers.
In 2020, NPCI launched the RuPay Select card, which is aimed at affluent customers. It is RuPay’s most expensive debit card option. The card differs from previous offerings in that it is not tied to an issuing bank and instead works with a variety of businesses to provide card-specific benefits. All of the benefits are now bundled into a single package that is independent of bank partnerships, preventing customers from applying for multiple card schemes. The RuPay Select is NPCI’s attempt to capture the market share of high-spending customers and provide an Indian alternative to Mastercard, Visa, and other premium offerings.
RuPay cards were issued by banks all over India as of July 2018. RuPay cards are issued by cooperative banks (scheduled cooperative banks, district cooperative banks, state cooperative banks, urban cooperative banks) and regional rural banks (RRBs) in the country, in addition to the country’s major private and public banks.
RuPay Credit Card
RuPay credit cards, like RuPay debit cards, are available in three different variants: RuPay Classic, RuPay Platinum, and RuPay Select. RuPay debit cards are available in three different variants as well. Eight public sector banks, one private sector bank, and one cooperative bank have been issuing RuPay credit cards since June 2017, despite the fact that the card has not been officially launched.
A pilot project was underway to technically enable more and more banks to participate in RuPay credit cards, with an additional five public sector banks participating. By March 2018, NPCI expects to have 25 banks participating in RuPay credit cards overall. Click here for the list of rupay credit card.
RuPay PrePaid Card
Prepaid cards from RuPay are available in three different varieties: RuPay Classic, RuPay Corporate, and RuPay Platinum.
Earlier this year, Sodexo announced the launch of the Sodexo Multi-Benefit Pass in partnership with RuPay. The card is equipped with a magnetic stripe that allows users to pay for meal benefits as well as a chip that allows them to make purchases through the RuPay payment network. This method of payment can also be used to make online purchases through web portals that accept RuPay.
It was in 2015 that the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), in collaboration with the Union Bank of India and the National Payment Corporation of India, introduced the IRCTC-UBI RuPay pre-paid card, which can be used to book train tickets, make purchases, and pay utility bills. The card is a first-of-its-kind in the market because it is being issued to customers in both virtual and physical forms, and in two different configurations.
Axis Bank assisted Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) in the rollout of Kochi1, a RuPay prepaid smart card, which was launched on 2 March 2019 with the assistance of Axis Bank. Kochi1 became the first intermodal transit card when its use was extended to private buses, with additional services, such as parking solutions, coming soon. As part of the Kochi Smart City project, the card will be expanded to include auto-rickshaws, ferries, including those operated by the Kerala State Water Transport Department, a proposed water metro system, and KSRTC buses, effectively making it a Common Mobility Card in all respects, according to the company.
RuPay Prepaid Card was launched by RBL Bank in collaboration with GI Technology, a Wirecard subsidiary and India’s largest wallet-based domestic money remittance company operating under the Brand Name ICashCard. The card is open loop and co-branded with the RBL-ICASH logo.
ItzCash, India’s largest digital payments company, announced today that it has partnered with RBL Bank to launch the country’s first co-branded Rupay Platinum Prepaid Card, which will be available in both English and Hindi. In addition to physical and virtual platforms, the multi-purpose card will be used to roll out a suite of prepaid services. The service was launched in order to ensure seamless interoperability, access to unlocking multiple solutions, and to help the nation’s prepaid programme run more efficiently and successfully.
On November 12, 2021, MobiKwik launched the RuPay Prepaid card in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India and Axis Bank.
RuPay Combo Card
The Union Bank of India launched RuPay Combo Debit Cum Credit Card in November 2018, the first RuPay card that facilitates both debit and credit transactions through a single card. The card has 2 EMVs and 2 magnetic stripes.
What is RuPay?
RuPay, a new card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has been conceived to fulfill RBI’s vision to offer a domestic, open-loop, multilateral system which will allow all Indian banks and financial institutions in India to participate in electronic payments. RuPay, the word itself has a sense of nationality in it. RuPay is the coinage of two terms Rupee and Payment. The RuPay Visual Identity is a modern and dynamic unit.
What is Rupay prepaid card?
The RuPay Prepaid Cards were launched in 2013 with the objective to offer a service to the unbanked audience and to act as an extension to the card market. RuPay Prepaid Cards can be issued through co-branding arrangements with banks as physical, virtual cards and mobile wallets.
What is Rupay Contactless card?
RuPay Contactless is an open loop EMV based payment product from NPCI and aims at providing an efficient and hassle-free experience to the customer. This advanced and secure card can be used for all payment applications, including transport (Metro, Bus etc.), toll, shopping etc. In payments lower than Rs.2,000 the customers can simply tap their card and the transactions are processed with a blink of an eye. No second factor authorization is needed through a PIN.
How do I know if my Rupay Card is contactless?
To know if the card is RuPay contactless, you need to check for the contactless indicator, published on its front.
How to get Rupay Card instead of a visa/master card?
You can approach your bank for issuing Visa card. However, we would encourage you to use RuPay card if you have, because RuPay card has multiple benefits attached to it.
