SBI launches virtual card for online payments

State Bank of India (SBI) is offering a virtual card to be used for e-commerce transactions. The new offering will be a limit debit card that can be used for online shopping at merchant websites accepting Visa cards.

The card can be used for transactions in the range of INR100 ($1.4) to INR50,000 ($699.86). The virtual card can be created using the internet banking facility of the bank and has a maximum validity of 48 hours or until the payment completion. To create the virtual card, the customer has to choose the ‘e-card’ tab in the internet banking platform and then opt to ‘generate virtual card’.

The customer has to then choose the account to transfer money from and also the amount to be transferred. The customer will have to enter their details and the OTP sent to their registered mobile for validation.

Developments at SBI

In October 2019, SBI launched an EMI facility on its debit card that enables its accountholders to shop for consumer durables and pay the money in instalments.

Last month, SBI subsidiary SBI Cards tapped Comviva’s host card emulation (HCE) technology to accelerate the adoption of SBI Card Pay service.

Earlier this month, SBI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) reportedly demanded equal treatment of RuPay debit card with Visa and Mastercard over zero merchant discount rate (MDR).