In an effort to bring cashless convenience in railway ticket bookings to more and more people, IRCTC has recently joined forces with Union Bank of India (UBI) to launch the exclusive IRCTC RuPay Debit Card.
This debit card has been designed exclusively to allow customers to book train tickets on the IRCTC portal. The RuPay debit card is the first homegrown payment gateway system which has been launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
The IRCTC RuPay Pre-paid Debit Card is the first card in India which is available in to variants - as a virtual car and as a physical card. At present, the most common mode of making train booking payments is via debit / credit cards or net banking.
The RuPay pre-paid debit card is a new payment method to allow customers to make quick and secure payments for their train bookings done via IRCTC.
Do you make frequent train bookings via IRCTC? If yes, then there are several benefits which this IRCTC RuPay pre-paid debit card has to offer. Given below are some of the notable benefits accompanying this RuPay debit card.
The IRCTC RuPay pre-paid debit card is available in two variants. These include a virtual card and a physical card. Read on to find out more about each variant.
IRCTC RuPay Debit Card VariantsThe IRCTC RuPay pre-paid debit card is available in two variants. These include a virtual card and a physical card. Read on to find out more about each variant.Virtual CardThe virtual IRCTC RuPay pre-paid card comes with a validity of one year and a maximum card limit of Rs.10, 000. While this card is offered free of any charge, the card holder must provide the requested KYC details to obtain the card. Once the applicant has applied for the card, their credentials will be mailed to their registered email address. The same address can further be used for making train ticket bookings.Physical CardThe physical IRCTC RuPay pre-paid debit card comes with varied validity and card limits, depending on the KYC formalities completed. If the card holder has provided partial KYC details, then they can enjoy card validity for one year with a maximum card limit of Rs.10, 000. If the card holder has provided all the requested KYC details, then the can enjoy a longer validity period of 3 years on their pre-paid debit card, along with an enhanced card limit of Rs. 50,000. Once the application process for the card is complete, the card will be mailed to the applicant’s registered mailing address. Once the physical card expires, one can apply for a new card. Once the card expires, user has to apply for a new card. While there is no charge levied on the application of the virtual card, a charge of Rs 50 will be levied for the issue of the physical card.Charging & Loading Your IRCTC RuPay Pre-paid Debit Card
Since this is a pre-paid card, you will require to reload money into the card once the funds are spent. The minimum amount for which the card can be recharged is set at Rs 500 and the maximum amount which can be loaded into this pre-paid card varies with KYC formalities completed by the applicant.
In case partial KYC details have been provided, the maximum amount that can be loaded into the card is set at Rs 20,000. If complete KYC details have been provided, then the card holder can add a maximum of Rs 50,000 on this card.
The IRCTC RuPay pre-paid debit card can be used for much more than just booking train tickets via the IRCTC portal. If you are looking to obtain this card, you have two options. The first option is to apply online on the IRCTC website. The second option you have is to personally visit any Union Bank of India (UBI) branch and request to apply for the card.
Debit and credit cards have definitely become two of the major forms of making payments for purchases due to the convenience and security they offer.
However, the RuPay Card is equally well-appointed in terms of convenience and security when it comes to transacting cashless. Here are some differences between the regular debit/credit cards and the RuPay debit card.
RuPay Debit Card | Debit/Credit Card |
Transaction Time | |
Transaction processing time is much lower with RuPay pre-paid cards. The chances of transactions failing to process are significantly lower. | Payments processing and transactions times can often be very long, depending on the strength of the network of connectivity to the server. Bookings may often fail to go through. |
Service Charges | |
With RuPay being an Indian payment system, the transactions take place in India and are also processed here. This means that the banks have to pay significantly lower service charges for processing RuPay transactions. This benefit can be directly passed on to the card holder who in turn has to pay lower amounts towards processing fee. | A majority of debit and credit cards currently being issued by banks use the Visa or MasterCard system of payments. Since these payments are processed outside India by the operator, the service charges that banks have to pay are significantly higher. These high service charges also trickle down to the end user i.e. the card holder. |
Quarterly Fees Levied On Bank | |
For RuPay cards, banks do not have to pay any quarterly fee to the card provider. | International card providers such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express charge a quarterly fee which banks must pay in order to offer these cards available to their customers. |
GST of 18% is applicable on all banking products and services from July 1, 2017 onwards.
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