Axis Bank pilots India’s first RuPay EMV contactless smart card
Eric Duforest, OT
Axis Bank has partnered with OT (Oberthur Technologies) to pilot the “first” open loop EMV contactless smart cards to be used in public transportation in Bengaluru, India.
OT, a provider of security software products and services, says the cards allow people to tap and pay instead of buying a ticket each time they use transportation in Bengaluru.
The cards are based on RuPay, the Indian domestic card scheme conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India.
Eric Duforest, managing director of the financial services institutions at OT, says the cards “could change the future of payments in the country”.
Sangram Singh, head – cards and merchant acquiring business, Axis Bank, says OT’s “expertise and leadership in the payment card industry as well as their experience in digital security is a very valuable capability for the partnership”.
OT says the cards can work with many retail/transit/toll/parking chains – meaning “one single card for various payment needs”. In addition, they are interoperable across different transport systems in the country.
Centre of attention
Axis Bank has been active and innovative.
Recently, the bank (and ICICI Bank) became the first Indian banks to sign up for Swift’s global payments innovation initiative. Swift says both of them will be joining forces with more than 70 other banks globally. The initiative aims to “enhance” cross-border payments by using its messaging platform.
Axis Bank also launched a new innovation lab, becoming the first domestic bank to do so in India. Dubbed “Thought Factory”, the lab is aimed at accelerating the development of innovative technology solutions for the banking sector and is expected to work closely with the start-up community.
