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