Big Story | Over 1.6 crore new debit cards issued during the peak of COVID-19 lockdown

As people have been hesitant in undertaking cash transactions for fear of the novel coronavirus, there has been a sharp increase in demand by customers for contactless cards.

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, the number of debit cards in circulation increased to 84.54 crore in June from 82.85 crore at the end of the March. Also, the circulation of cards issued by state-owned banks increased to 597.1 million from 585.6 million, even as operations at branches were staggered due to the nationwide lockdown.

In this edition of Big Story, we decode how the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted digital transactions even further.