RuPay card usage jumps 118% in 1st week of demonetisation

RuPay card usage jumped by over 118.6 per cent in the week following demonetisation that took effect from November 8 mid-night while the overall debit and credit card transactions recorded an increase of 70.5 per cent.

According to RBI data, the usage of RuPay card at POS terminals soared by as much as 200.6 per cent to 46.6 lakh transactions during November 9-15. This compares with 15.5 lakh swipes during November 1-8.

The government demonetised the old high value banknotes from the midnight of November 8 and also imposed restrictions on cash withdrawals from banks as well as ATMs, prompting people to move to go digital.

RBI said a total of 65.6 lakh transactions were recorded through RuPay cards during November 9-15. This includes 19 lakh spendings through e-commerce platforms.

Further, 1.58 crore Mastercard debit cards were used during the period, up 76.84 per cent over November 1-8.

Mastercard credit card transactions went up by about 24 per cent to 57.31 lakh.

In the case of Visa, the increase in debit and pre-paid transactions stood at 93 per cent while for the credit card segment, it was 42 per cent during November 1 and 8.

Taking all Rupay, Mastercard and Visa together, the total transactions were up at 3,39,60,329 during November 9-15, from 1,99,19,176 on November 1-8, an increase of 70.49 per cent.

RuPay payment gateway has been developed by India while Mastercard and Visa are foreign companies.