RuPay card usage jumps nearly 119% in first week of demonetisation

RuPay card usage jumped by over 118.6% in the week following demonetisation that took effect from November 8 mid-night while the overall debit and credit card transactions recorded an increase of 70.5%.

According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI data), the usage of RuPay card at point-of-sale (POS) terminals soared by as much as 200.6% to 46.6 lakh transactions during November 9 to 15. This compares with 15.5 lakh swipes during November 1 to 8.

The government demonetised the old high value banknotes from the midnight of November 8 and also imposed restrictions on cash withdrawals from banks as well as ATMs, prompting people to move to digital.

RBI said a total of 65.6 lakh transactions were recorded through RuPay cards during November 9 to 15. This includes 19 lakh spendings through e-commerce platforms.

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Further, 1.58 crore Mastercard debit cards were used during the period, up 76.84% over November 1 to 8. Mastercard credit card transactions went up by about 24% to 57.31 lakh.

In the case of Visa, the increase in debit and pre-paid transactions stood at 93% while for the credit card segment, it was 42% during November 1 and 8.

Taking all Rupay, Mastercard and Visa together, the total transactions were up at 3,39,60,329 during November 9 to 15, from 1,99,19,176 on November 1 to 8, an increase of 70.49%.

RuPay payment gateway has been developed by India while Mastercard and Visa are foreign companies.

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