The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed users to link their RuPay credit cards to Unified Payment Interface (UPI) payment applications. If you want to use a credit card on UPI platforms, it must be a RuPay credit card.
To encourage thousands of customers to use RuPay credit cards on UPI, several banks including HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, and Federal Bank have introduced virtual RuPay credit cards that can be used on UPI. “To enable every one of our credit card customers to use their credit card on the UPI platform we have launched a virtual RuPay credit card,” says Frederick D’souza, Business Head, Credit Card, Kotak Mahindra Bank. So, you don’t need to have a physical RuPay credit card to use it on UPI platforms.
Who is eligible for a virtual RuPay credit card? Know how it will work
“This virtual RuPay credit card would only be issued to those customers who already have a credit card with Kotak Mahindra Bank,” says D’souza. So, those who already have a credit card from their bank, be it a Visa, Mastercard, or others, can apply for a virtual RuPay credit card from their bank
“Using this virtual RuPay credit card customers can pay via any supporting UPI app by linking the two together,” says D’souza.
He further adds that even the bank’s secured credit card customers (those who got a credit card against a fixed deposit) are eligible to take up the virtual RuPay credit card.
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You can check with your bank whether you are eligible for virtual RuPay credit card through UPI platform. You can apply for it if your bank offers one and then link that virtual card to any UPI platform and transact as usual.Do note that when you apply for a virtual RuPay credit card, it will be linked to your existing Visa or Mastercard credit card. The card that you are already using will be the primary card and the virtual RuPay credit card will be the secondary card. Explaining this further Chitrabhanu KG, Senior Vice President and & Country Head of Retail Assets and cards – at Federal Bank says, “The Virtual Rupay credit card will be an additional card to existing Visa and Mastercard credit card holders, which can be added to payment apps like Google Pay, Paytm, and PhonePe for making credit cards on UPI payments. The card can also be used for ECOM payments. The additional Rupay Virtual card will be issued with a shared limit with the existing Visa or Mastercard credit cards.”
According to the YES Bank website “All Visa and Mastercard credit card holders of YES Bank except NRI, Corporate, Commercial, Co-Branded, and Purchase credit card holders are eligible for a virtual RuPay credit card.”
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You can check with your bank whether you are eligible for a virtual RuPay credit card. You can apply for it if your bank offers one and then link that virtual card to UPI and transact as usual.
Things to know about virtual RuPay credit cards on UPI
● Two separate statements: According to D’souza, “Since there were two cards one physical (VISA/Mastercard) and other virtual (RuPay) there would be two separate credit card transaction statements for both. The credit limits would however be shared between the virtual and physical card.”
● Reward points won’t be interoperable: According to D’souza, “The reward points earned by transacting on the virtual RuPay credit card would be separate from the reward point earned by transacting via the physical VISA/Mastercard credit card. Since there are two credit cards, there would be two reward points. The points cannot be sent from one card to another.”
● Card controls: According to D’Souza, “Even if the physical card (VISA/Mastercard) is blocked or canceled or not enabled for online or offline transactions it would not affect the virtual RuPay credit card. The virtual RuPay credit card would work as it is irrespective of the status of the physical card. The virtual RuPay credit card has its card control mechanism.”
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