Article 7: What is all about "Ru Pay", India’s payment network?
In this seventh edition of my article, I will be discussing the Ru Pay network in India and its significant growth both in India and around the world. Many of you may have already noticed the Ru Pay brand marketing and communications campaigns at various events and activities. It is worth noting that Ru Pay is one of the official partner networks for the 2024 Tata IPL, along with other key players such as My 11 Circle, Angel One, and CEAT.
As an indigenous card network of India, Ru Pay has been an essential part of previous Tata IPL seasons and has recently renewed its partnership for the next few years. As an official partner of IPL, Ru Pay aims to promote its payment network among Indians and enhance the payment experience by offering exclusive benefits and promotions.
What is this “Ru Pay”?
Ru Pay is the inaugural homegrown domestic card payment network of India, developed and managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Records indicate that Ru Pay was launched on the 26th of March, 2012, to facilitate the financial inclusion of India and reduce cash in the economy. This card has been extensively accepted across India at ATMs, e-commerce, and selected other payment networks, streamlining transactions.
Reasons to Emerge “Ru Pay”?
There are several reasons for creating domestic card schemes like Ru Pay, instead of relying solely on international options such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express and etc. Firstly, India aims to promote fair competition and reduce the monopoly of foreign gateways. Secondly, the transaction costs and commissions associated with international card schemes are relatively high compared to domestic providers. Finally, Ru Pay cards can be issued to a wide range of banks, including public, private, rural, and cooperative institutions across India's territories.
How “Ru Pay” brand was created?
The name Ru Pay was coined by combining the words "Rupee" and "payment". As an abbreviation, "Ru" and "Pay" were chosen from the entire gamut of meanings to represent the domestic payment network. This was the first step taken by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) towards domestic payments as their own card scheme. The NPCI empowers banks and financial institutions to be technology-driven and to promote electronic payments across India.
What is NPCI and their Contribution to India’s Society
The abbreviation NPCI stands for National Payments Corporation of India. Its primary responsibility is to manage and operate retail payments and settlements in India. The Reserve Bank (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) initiated NPCI under the provisions of the Payments and Settlement System Act 2007 to establish a payments and settlement infrastructure in India. This initiative has been incorporated as a non-profit company under the provisions of section 25 of the Companies Act 1956, which is now considered the 8th of the Companies Act 2013.
The primary objective is to establish the requisite infrastructure for the entire banking ecosystem to facilitate seamless transactions throughout India. This pertains to both physical and electronic (digital) transactions. A secondary objective of NPCI is to promote innovation and the use of cutting-edge technologies, particularly in the payment industry, to improve the efficiency and efficacy of all transactions and enhance the customer experience for a broad spectrum of India's population.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has identified 10 core promoters, who are the primary supporters of the organization. These promoters include State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank Limited, HDFC Bank Limited, Citi Bank, and HSBC. However, in 2016, NPCI expanded its shareholder base to include 56 member banks from various sectors. This move was made to encourage the participation of other banks in the organization.
Vision & Mission of NPCI
The below mentioned the vision and mission of the NPCI,
1. Vision – To be the best payment network globally.
2. Mission – To touch every Indian with one or other payment services.
10 Key Tenets of NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India)
Aside from their mission and vision, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has implemented 10 core values to serve as a guiding framework for their future sustainability. These values, as outlined on the official NPCI website,
1. Taking pride in serving the nation
2. Innovating for exponential change
3. Taking ownership of one's career
4. Prioritizing the customer
5. Thinking long-term
6. Considering ecosystems and platforms
7. Moving quickly
8. Embracing conflicts
9. Caring for colleagues
10. Respecting others' time.
Upon analyzing these fundamental values, it is evident that the NPCI has wholeheartedly committed to taking its entire system to the next level by aligning its thinking and vision with the digital India master plan spearheaded by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his digital India leadership team. One of the payment solutions developed by NPCI is Ru Pay, which is just one of the many parallel projects NPCI runs to achieve its vision.
Listed down some of the key solutions introduced by the NPCI,
01. IMPS – Immediate payment service
02. NACH – National Automated Clearinghouse
03. AePS – Aadhaar-enabled payment system (Refer to my 2nd Article)
04. NFS – National Financial switch
05. UPI – Unified payments interface
06. Bharat bill payment system – one-stop bill payment solution
07. NETC – National Electronic Toll Collection
08. Ru pay – Indigenous domestic card payment network
Journey of “Ru Pay” so far.
According to numerous articles, Ru Pay has had a significant impact on domestic payments and the lives of Indians. Their primary focus is on improving retail payments and making transactions seamless. Ru Pay has been operating for over seven years and has made aggressive strides in the Indian market by introducing cards with different sets of offers and benefits.
Ru Pay has introduced various card verticals in the form of credit, debit, prepaid, and government schemes. NPCI has powered these cards through Ru Pay, and the range of cards introduced to the Indian market is as follows:
1. Credit cards - Classic, Platinum, Select, MSME
2. Debit cards - Classic, Platinum, Select
3. Prepaid cards - Classic, Corporate, Platinum
4. Government Schemes - PMJDY, Mudra card, Pungrain Card, Kisan Credit
Upon examining the references provided, it becomes clear why Ru Pay has segmented these card verticals separately and what benefits are offered in each card scheme mentioned above.
Advantages of using "Ru Pay" enabled cards
After researching various articles and websites, I have analyzed the prominent advantages of utilizing Ru Pay cards. The card scheme must offer substantial benefits to attract a significant number of consumers away from international card schemes such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. As the author of this article, I have identified key advantages that Ru Pay cardholders can avail.
The product powered by UPI is another revolutionary offering from NPCI. UPI, which stands for Unified Payment Interface, enables the integration of multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (provided they are participating bank accounts). This allows for various banking features, effortless fund routing, and merchant payments without any inconvenience. It significantly improves the user experience by facilitating contactless and digital transactions. Additionally, Ru Pay credit cards are now linked with UPI solutions to ensure seamless transactions.
2. Ru Pay offers a contactless payment solution for hassle-free transactions. It includes dual interface payment options for both transit and retail shopping, as well as wallet-based contactless payment options. Furthermore, Ru Pay supports all forms of transit, including trains, buses, and metros, as part of a national transport initiative.
In 2012, Ru Pay established a partnership with Discover and Diner Club to conduct transactions on a global scale. Their objective was to offer a wide range of benefits and offers across different regions by collaborating with international card schemes. This partnership also enabled the sharing of state-of-the-art facilities, security, technology, and scalability with domestic payment schemes like Ru Pay. To expand its reach, Ru Pay joined forces with JCG Global in 2019. As a result, Ru Pay JCB global cardholders are now able to use their cards in JCG-powered payment channels such as E-commerce, ATMs, and POS terminals.
Bharat QR – Lanka QR and Bharath QR are similar payment solutions. QR payments have been drastically popular in most of India and even street sellers are getting the maximum use of the Bharat QR code to accept their payments. Because of its flexibility, convenience, and low fee structure. Hence, to encourage QR payments across India, The Reserve Bank of India has introduced an interoperability solution such as Baharat QR together with Ru pay card schemes to carry out transactions faster than ever before.
When it comes to Digital India master plan which can be used as a case study for many countries in order for to them to formulate a digital strategy.
About the writer
Mr Dinuka Mandula Peiris – Practicing Marketer in SL, MBA (PIM-USJP), PgDipM (SLIM), CIM(UK), CPM (Asia), MSLIM, ACIM.
Currently working as a Sales Manager – Fintech and Digital payments at Epic Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.
Currently serves as a visiting lecturer at SLIM.
References
https://www.rupay.co.in/
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/in/banking/what-is-rupay-debit-card/
Cards and payment Systems | IT Systems Implementation | Project Management
1yMandula, Rupay Global card are issued in partnership with either Discover (so Rupay Discover co-branded cards) or JCB (so Rupay JCB co-branded cards) only. UnionPay is not a partner of NPCI for Rupay Global card issuance (yet), though you mentioned so in your article. Just pointing out a typo "..Ru Pay joined forces with JCG Global in 2019 ..." - JCG should be corrected as JCB. Isn't it?
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1yDushantha Abeykoon
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1yChathuranga Abeywardena
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1yThilina Chandrasiri
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