The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee dedicated ‘RuPay’ India’s own card payment network to the nation today (May 8, 2014) at function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Speaking on the occasion, the President congratulated the Reserve Bank of India for having envisioned the need for such an indigenously managed service in 2005 and for entrusting this task to the National Payments Corporation soon after its operationalization in 2010. He said that it usually takes five to seven years to build a fully functional card payment network. He was happy to note that the NPCI could make the RuPay service operational by April 2013.

The President said creativity lies in developing products meeting the special needs of the customers by the issuing banks. For a large country like India with a rapidly growing economy, the volume of payment transactions, specially those settled through cards, will be significant in the years ahead. Transactions which are mostly settled today either by way of cash or cheque will progressively make way for card based payment transactions as the economy matures and internet penetration increases. An indigenous system like RuPay will not only reduce the dependence on cash and cheque modes of settlement but will also make it easier to offer products based on specific requirements of diverse user sets within the country.

The President said that seven million cards issued so far is only a fraction of the potential. Launch of milk procurement pre-paid card by milk procurement agencies or grain procurement agencies in Punjab are other such variants of the card payment mechanism which only a card payment system developed within the country can appreciate and implement faster. Dedication of RuPay to the nation is thus symbolic of the maturity of the payment system development in India and contribution of the National Payments Corporation of India to nation building.

The President felicitated Shri A. P. Hota, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NPCI. He also presented appreciation plaques to 17 banks for their contribution in connection with RuPay card.

Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Shri G. S. Sandhu, Secretary, Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Shri K.R. Kamath, Chairman, Indian Bank Association and Shri Balachandran M., Chairman, National Payments Corporation of India.