PM Narendra Modi launches RuPay card;UAE to be the first country in West Asia to initiate this payment system

RuPay Card is India’s version of Master Card and Visa. It was launched by the RBI in 2012 to introduce a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments. It facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions.

RuPay cars have already been launched in Singapore and Bhutan.

PM Narendra Modi launched the RuPay card by making special purchase which he will offer as ‘prasad’ at Shreenathji Temple in Bahrain tomorrow.

Before the launch, a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) was signed in the presence of PM Modi between the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and UAE’s Mercury Payments Services, to establish the payment interface for enabling the Payments.

This initiative will consolidate business ties with India as major business groups in the UAE ie; Lulu, Petrochem Middle East, NMC Healthcare and Landmark have agreed to accept RuPay as the mode of payment. As UAE receives around 3 million Indian tourists, Its introduction will minimize expenses incurred as an exchange rate by tourists who come from India and also boost tourism in the UAE. RuPay card is to be accepted at about 175,000 merchant locations, 5000 ATM and cash access locations within UAE.

RuPay card was introduced in 26 March 2012 to curb the monopoly of foreign gateways like Visa and MasterCard. It was developed and launched by NPCL to provide indigenous payment gateway, to reduce transaction cost and bringing more inclusivity. Ties with Discover, Japan Credit Bureau, and China Union Pay also increased its global acceptance. RuPay achieved a milestone by issuing 25 million Rupay-Discover global card. 500 million RuPay cards are already in circulation in India.