State Bank of India (SBI) has sought permission from the Indian banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to launch contactless debit cards, which would enable customers to carry out some transactions without having to enter the PIN number.
RBI had made entering ATM pin at point-of-sale (PoS) terminals and merchant outlets mandatory from 1 December 2013.
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Customers holding contactless debit cards do not require to enter the PINs or sign when they pay for low-value items. Just a touch of the contactless debit card against the card reader is enough for the transaction to go through, reports Press Trust of India.
SK Mishra, SBI deputy managing director of corporate strategy and new businesses, said: "Right now, for any card which has to be used, a customer has to put in the PIN. Some exception has to be made as for lower amount deals like buying a Metro or bus ticket, where he can simply show the card and get in.
"So, we have requested the RBI to come up with a limit below which the PIN will be waived. We have suggested that we can have up to INR2,000 as the limit."
Mishra added that once the regulation comes in, all its future debit cards would be near-field communication (NFC or contactless) enabled.
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By GlobalDataCurrently, the bank is conducting a test-run of such contactless cards at the Chennai and Mumbai metro stations.
