NPCI issues over 64M RuPay Global Cards, aims to further grow international acceptance

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Thursday said it had issued over 64 million RuPay Global Cards, since it started issuing them in 2014. 

NPCI, which manages the RuPay card network in the country, issues RuPay Global Cards that run on the Discover Network when used outside India. This partnership has helped Indian homegrown card payment network RuPay to also expand its footprint globally.

US-based Discover Network provides payment solutions for merchants and financial institutions in North America and other geographies.  

Speaking on the milestone, Praveena Rai, Chief Operating Officer of NPCI, said,

“We have been focusing on growing international acceptance for our 64 million RuPay Global Card consumers. The acceptance of RuPay Global Cards, with the partnership of Discover, reaches 41 million-plus merchants across 190 countries, and is constantly growing.”

The scope of the strategic relationship between these two payment networks covers issuance of co-branded RuPay-Discover debit and credit cards. At present, RuPay Global debit and credit cards are issued by 40 Indian banks. They can be used for purchases at merchant locations and cash withdrawals on the Discover Global Network in countries such as the US, Singapore, Srilanka, and more.

“Our relationship allows RuPay Global cardholders to use their cards at millions of locations while traveling abroad via the Discover Global Network,” said Joe Hurley, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Business Development at Discover. “As the cardholder numbers grow, Discover is providing more people the ability to use their card of choice while out of the country.”

RuPay Global Cards are presently issued in five variants RuPay Classic Debit Card, RuPay Classic Credit Card, RuPay Platinum Debit Card, RuPay Platinum Credit Card, and RuPay Select Credit Card.

Also read: NPCI strengthens its leadership ranks, hires new COO and CDO

The RuPay network was launched in India in 2012. In 2017, NPCI also launched contactless RuPay cards on the network.

Set up in 2009, NPCI provides the central infrastructure for various retail payment systems in India, including National Automated Clearing House (NACH), Aadhaar-Enabled Payment System (AePS), USSD-based *99#, Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), BHIM Aadhaar, National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC), and Bharat Bill Pay.