Union Bank of India, Commonwealth Inclusive Growth Services Ltd, a non-profit organisation, and ElectraCard Services, a retail payment services company, are jointly launching a hybrid card, for the un-banked and under-banked segments.
Called the Commonwealth Card, it has the combined features of a prepaid and debit card, for the un-banked and under-banked segment.
Just like a debit card, the Commonwealth Card is backed by a savings bank account and the cardholder earns regular savings bank interest on the balance in the account.
Wider acceptance
As it is a debit card, spends on the card cannot exceed the money in the account.
Also, being a prepaid card, it has a wider acceptance at merchant establishments than other biometric cards that can be used only for transactions through select Banking Correspondents, said an officer from Union Bank of India
Banking transactions
The card can be used for buying goods at merchant establishments, utility payments and also for banking transactions such as cash withdrawal and deposit, fund transfer, balance enquiry, requesting for mini statement, PIN change.
In future, the card can be used to withdraw money from bank ATMs as well.
Pilot project
The card has been launched as a pilot project in Tamil Nadu and about 1,000 cards were issued. Currently, the transactions are in the range of Rs 1,000-2,000.
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