Visa knocks Katherine Tai's door as Modi government boosts RuPay
Visa has approached the United States government alleging that they were being denied a 'level playing field' in India.
FollowWith the RuPay cards floated by the National Payments Corporation of India gaining more ground within the country, electronic payments company Visa has approached the United States government alleging that they were being denied a 'level playing field' in India.
The fact that the Narendra Modi government is pushing across home-grown payments options hasn't gone down well with foreign players who allege that New Delhi's informal and formal policies appear to favour the RuPay over other domestic and foreign electronic payments companies. In fact, Prime Minister Modi has time and again termed RuPay Card as a medium of serving the nation, and stated that the income generated through RuPay Card transactions is used for developing the country.
News agency Reuters had recently accessed memos prepared by Visa Inc for US Trade Representative Katherine Tai in which CEO Alfred Kelly expressed his concerns. Back in 2018, even Mastercard had approached the USTR with similar concerns about the Indian government favouring its own payments service.
Even though publically foreign electronic payments companies say that the presence of multiple players encouraged innovation and offered customers a choice, privately they have been sulking over the government telling banks to push for the adoption of RuPay cards. The RuPay card volumes have seen a spike not just in urban areas but also in remote areas that were not covered earlier.Â
Over 1100 banks, which include public sector banks, regional rural and cooperative banks and private banks now offer RuPay cards. The RuPay cards, the home-grown global card payment network, has so far been issued to over 635 million customers to date. The self-reliant card payments network has features that make it a truly interoperable card. In 2019 alone, RuPay reported over a billion transactions, both through online and offline payment options.
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