Our job is to take RuPay to everyone, says NPCI COO Praveena Rai

Praveena Rai, chief operating officer, National Payments Corporation of India speaks to Subrata Panda about the journey of RuPay and the aim of the umbrella organisation for operating retail payments

PRAVEENA RAI, chief operating officer, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), speaks to Subrata Panda about the journey of RuPay and the aim of the umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India to take the suite of RuPay cards to the people.

RuPay has a sizeable share in the debit card market. The intent was to go big on credit cards. How is that plan taking shape?

RuPay started as a card for India. NPCI took the indigenous debit card to the length and the breadth of the country. We have nearly 1,100 banks issuing the RuPay debit card. We started working on the other segment of the portfolio — credit and prepaid cards. In the past two years, we have energised prepaid and credit cards. Both segments are growing at full tilt.

Prepaid cards are a relatively new segment. We were able to nurture it. We have a respectable share of cards in the market and an impressive share of transactions as well.

As far as credit cards go, we have engaged with nearly all large credit card issuers — SBI Card, HDFC Bank, YES Bank, Federal Bank, BoB Financial, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, and Indian Bank. Soon other big banks will also be launching. The focus in the past two years has been to get the banks ready, enabled, and certified. Many have started issuing cards to their customers. Last year, we had 8–10 per cent share of new credit cards issued. We are happy where we are and the suite is complete.
 

Did the ban or rival card-issuing networks help in any way?
 

There were reasons why they had their regulatory scrapes. We have been very clear about working with partners who wish to associate with us. We have not seen this as an opportunity.
 

Do you want to take the RuPay credit card to the people?

Our job is to take RuPay to everyone — be it debit, prepaid, or credit cards. In all these categories, we serve the entire population — underserved, affluent, and premium. We operate in all segments.
 

Are private banks reluctant to issue the RuPay debit card due to zero merchant discount rate (MDR)?

Zero MDR impacts the direct payment revenue stream. Our focus is to make the card a well-rounded proposition. We have innovative features on the card and there is a clutch of benefits. If we can keep the user engaged and if a user has a card of a particular bank, that bank becomes his/her core account. Where you have a core account, you develop a relationship, such as a savings or loan account. There has been an impact on the direct payment revenue stream. We want our partners to have a direct revenue stream, but there is a broader outlook being taken here.
 

Is there a market share you are targeting for the RuPay debit card?

On debit cards, we have around 35 per cent market share. Across the portfolio, we want to be a very significant player. There is huge competition that must be respected/acknowledged. As long as we continue to innovate and do our job from a technology, product, or brand standpoint, we should be a strong player in the market.
 

With the Reserve Bank of India allowing card-less cash withdrawal through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), what kind of an impact will it have on the debit card universe?

Users will use multiple products. For us, it is about innovating, irrespective of the firm factor. We have to grow digital payments in India. This means greater retail payments moving from cash to digital. The user experience has to be seamless. The problems a user faces need to be addressed. The option of withdrawing cash via UPI at automated teller machines must be available. Perhaps there will be a lower limit. The risk management can be looked into. We have to keep resolving customer complaints. Whichever product/firm factor does the job is acceptable to us.
 

What is the proposal as far as the national common mobility card is concerned?

The early phase was focused on metros, but we have always been keen to expand this to the overall transit framework and that is where the work with buses started.

There are a number of tie-ups with state road transport undertakings and are in different phases of roll-out.

This is a prepaid card. Customers can load money and use the ‘tap and pay’ option at their convenience. In general, RuPay cards are all NCMC-enabled. Of the total RuPay cards in the market, nearly 75 million are enabled on NCMC.