SBI Mulls Contactless Debit Cards, Seeks Permission From RBI

The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) today said it is planning to launch contactless Debit cards, which would allow customers to carry out some transactions without entering the pin number. The bank has sought Reserve Bank of India's permission for this.

According to S K Mishra, deputy MD of SBI (corporate strategy and new businesses), "Right now, for any card which has to be used, a customer has to enter the pin number. Some exception has to be made as for lower amount deals like buying a Metro or bus ticket, where he can simply show the card and get in.”

"So, we have requested the RBI to come up with a limit below which the pin will be waived. We have suggested that we can have up to Rs 2,000 as the limit," he said.

Once the regulation comes in, all its future debit cards would be near-field communication (NFC or contactless) enabled, he added.

Currently, the SBI is conducting a test-run of such contactless cards at the Chennai and Mumbai metro stations.
(Image: Indiatimes)