Corp Bank mulling launch of multi-utility cards

State-run Corporation Bank is considering launching a multi-utility cash card, which can be used as a debit, credit and pre-paid card, in the current year, a top official said.  

If the initiative fructifies, then Corporation Bank would be the first Indian bank to come out with a one-stop technical solution through a combo card -- a fusion of credit, debit and pre-paid cards, the official said.  "We are planning to launch the combo card this year. However, we are still fine-tuning our plans.

There is this proposal and we will launch a pilot programme first ... May be in Mumbai in the next six months," Corporation Bank's General Manager B R Bhat told PTI on the sidelines of a Venture Infotek's event on future of pre-paid cards in India.  

Though the combo card concept is widely accepted in developed countries, India is yet to witness its benefits by which a person can use a single card as a debit, credit, and pre-paid card, Bhat said.  

However, there were certain challenges the bank needed to address in terms of infrastructure, he said.  

"The bank has the infrastructure but the problem is there is no infrastructure at the user-end and we have to create that first. We can make the facility available at our ATMs but then there were the ATMs of other banks and Point of Sales. So, this may take some time," he added.

Some of the benefits of a combo card are enhanced security and ability to mitigate increasing fraud, faster transactions, usable as an electronic wallet and a platform for new competitive strategies as well as more differentiated services.

Besides, the cards can serve premium customers with tailored packages and are long-lasting cards compared to the two to three years assigned to magnetic stripes. It can also enable consumers to add or remove programmes as required.

"India is yet to witness such cards and we are quite optimistic that Corporation Bank will be the first to provide its customers a whole new experience of money transaction as early as possible," Bhat said.

He also said that the bank would be scaling up its ATM network to 1,500 by end-next fiscal.

At present, it has 1,000 ATMs across the country and will add another 100 by March this year and 400 by end of next fiscal.