Pilot project is on with 100 merchants. It will soon facilitate contactless payment for its premium debit, credit and multi-currency forex card customers.
The bank plans to cater to about 1.70 lakh premium segment customers, accounting for about 1 per cent of its total customer base of 1.7 crore.
“The industry has seen about INR 12,000-13,000 crore worth debit card transactions that are below INR 2,000. So, we are piloting with 100 merchants in a couple of cities to facilitate the tap-and-go payments,” said Jairam Sridharan, President of Consumer Lending at Axis Bank. At present, about 70% of transactions through debit cards are below INR 2,000 value across the banking industry.
“We need to create a culture of customers getting to know how to use the tap-and-go payment system. Changing this behaviour will take time. So, we are first trying to aim at the segment which will be quicker to adapt,” Sridharan explained.
Globally, near-field communication (NFC)-based payments are popular in, among others, quick-service restaurants, department stores and campuses.
