Credit-Debit Card Portability: Every customer has the option of portability when dissatisfied with any product or services of the company. This option is available in many services. You can port from SIM to insurance policy and soon you will be able to port credit and debit cards too.
The RBI has issued a circular that empowers debit, credit and prepaid card users to choose their preferred card network. RBI has sought suggestions from banks and consumers on this proposal till August 4, 2023.
As per RBI’s draft circular, card issuers will be prohibited from entering into any arrangement or agreement with a card network that prevents them from availing the services of other card networks. RBI said that ‘Financial institutions should not issue credit cards, debit cards and pre-paid cards for a particular card network. People should have the option to choose the network of their choice. The proposal challenges existing rules where the choice of card network is pre-determined by agreements between issuers and networks.
As per RBI’s draft circular, card-issuing banks will give their customers the option to choose from multiple card networks. This option can be exercised by the customer at the time of issuing the card or at any time thereafter.
Card network portability refers to the customer’s right to transfer his card from one network to another. Like we can change our telecom service provider keeping the same phone number. Similarly, card network portability allows cardholders to maintain their current card balance and credit history while switching to a different payment network.
Currently there are 5 card network companies in India- Visa, MasterCard, Rupay, American Express and Diners Club. They have tie-ups with various banks and financial institutions. Due to this the customer does not get the option to select the card network of his choice. But, after the implementation of card network portability, customers will start getting this right.
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