Visa launches National Common Mobility Card for multimodal transport in India

05/13/2019

Supports Indian Government’s vision of ‘One Nation One Card’ with its contactless card solution

 

Visa, the global leader in payments technology, recently announced the launch of its specifications to support the rollout of the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) as conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of the Government of India. NCMC, also known as ‘One Nation, One Card’, is an interoperable transport card that can be used for payments across all transit segments including metro, bus, suburban railways, toll, parking, smart city and retail.

“Globally across cities, we have seen transit as a gateway category that drives adoption of digital payments in the local economy1. In India, consumers have continued to prefer cash to digital payments for low value-high frequency transactions such as transit2. With the transit sector expected to expand with numerous upcoming metro and smart city projects, NCMC contactless cards will trigger rapid adoption of digital payments across transit use cases. Besides being cost effective vis-à-vis cash, it will also help improve the efficiency and scale of public transit systems in the country,” said Visa’s TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia.

“With our contactless card solutions, we are committed to the Government’s vision of being able to use a single card for transit, which would be a key enabler for our nation to move towards a ‘less-cash’ society.” he added.

In line with the guidelines laid down by the ministry, Visa NCMC cards will allow for the contactless feature of tapping to pay, that provides a card balance for offline usage at transit venues; it allows cardholders to store their transit passes on the card, provides multiple ways to top-up the offline balance on the card and it can be accepted at participating public transport operators (PTOs) across the country.

Visa plans to work closely with the Government, its member Banks and participating PTOs to ensure early rollout and acceptance of Visa NCMC cards.

Across the world, Visa contactless cards also support the next generation of account-based ticketing (ABT) models that have been adopted by leading metros across the globe. In the ABT model, consumers can turn up and ride with their existing Visa contactless card, allowing for a seamless payment experience.

 

1 Better Than Cash Alliance (Dec 13,2018), Digital payments in transportation can help developing cities drive economic growth

2 USAID, Ministry of Finance (2015), Why India loves Cash and why that matters for financial inclusion

     

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.