Debit cardholders may soon be able to request their bank for a Visa card that allows them to store up to Rs 2,000 in the chip itself, enabling transactions without connectivity.
A proof of concept for the stored value card for offline payments has already been established by Visa in partnership with payment solutions firm Innoviti. The PoC has been executed in partnership with Yes Bank and Axis Bank. Stored value cards are different from prepaid cards where authorisation takes place on the network cloud.
The chip in this new Visa debit card will hold a stored value of a daily spend limit of Rs 2,000 and have a per-transaction limit of Rs 200 — the limits mandated by the RBI currently. If the balance is insufficient, the transaction will be declined, making this proposition conducive for cardholders and merchants. Merchants also stand to gain revenue from reduced friction and risk of payment failures. Visa’s solution is the first of its kind and equipped to enter the Indian market.
The RBI has been urging banks to come up with solutions for offline digital transactions so that these can continue to take place with poor telecom infrastructure or during network breakdowns.
