Kalam launches Commonwealth Microfinance Card in Chennai

Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, launched the Commonwealth Card in Chennai on Tuesday. The card is issued by the Chennai-based Commonwealth Micro-Finance (India) Ltd, in partnership with the REPCO Bank, a Govt. of India enterprise. Dr. Kalam issued the first card to members of REPCO Bank Self Help Group (SHG).

Focussed on banking the un-banked and the under banked, the card is a one-of-its-kind Pre-paid Debit card that offers Banking services and can also be used at Merchant Establishments for purchase of Goods and Services. The card uses a state-of-the-art technology platform and can be used to make a payment by either swiping on a Point-of-Sale terminal or tapping the card on special purpose Mobile phone, called the NFC phone.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Mohan Kaul, Director General of the Commonwealth Business Council said, “We are delighted at the opportunity of partnering with Banks in India to service the Financial Inclusion requirements of the Government and help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals of the Commonwealth Group. Commonwealth Microfinance (India), our associate firm in India, has put together an experienced management team to make this happen.”

Addressing the press, Mr. Mahesh Ramachandran, Founder & CEO of Commonwealth Microfinance said that “We have launched the card in the North Chennai region to begin with and plans to cover all parts of Chennai and Tamilnadu issuing over 3 million cards in TN state in a phased manner. We plan to parallely roll out the card in other states too, starting with Gujarat state, which has shown keen interest in Financial Inclusion projects.”

He said the Commonwealth Business Council would be facilitating similar projects to be rolled out across other commonwealth nations over a period of time. He said that India has a vast population at the bottom-of-the-pyramid with huge unmet need for banking services. This makes it an ideal market to launch such an offering.

Talking to media persons, Mr. M. Balasubramanian, MD of REPCO Bank said, “REPCO Bank has been rendering a whole range of banking services to repatriates from erstwhile Burma & Sri Lanka and also, to ‘B’Class Members of the Bank; REPCO Bank has been one of the pioneers in Microfinance. We feel, the Commonwealth Card could be a boon to our prospective customers, as they can get financial services through a large network of Business Correspondents and could also make cashless purchase of goods & services from Merchant Establishments. Further, we see significant business benefits in using the Commonwealth Card as a medium for disbursement of Microfinance, as it would both reduce cost & risks associated with cash disbursements and help monitor end-usage. In the near future, REPCO Bank plans to deploy ATMs at select places, in association with Commonwealth Micro Finance (India) Ltd., and issue Commonwealth Debit Card to its existing customers, offering 24×7 convenient banking services to our customers.”

The Commonwealth Card would be available across 300 Merchant Establishments and 100 Business Correspondents in the North Chennai region. The Commonwealth Inclusive Growth Foundation, a Sec. 25 company of the group, has enrolled a number of BC agents in the North Chennai area for the convenience of the cardholders.

The card can be purchased off-the-shelf by providing key personal data with a proof of address, identity and paying a fee of Rs. 99/- The card then be charged at any of the authorized BC Agents of the Commonwealth Inclusive Growth Foundation. The card is available under two different payment options similar to a mobile connection.

The First option requires the cardholder to make a monthly payment of Rs. 1/ day for usage of the card, with a transaction fee ranging between 0.5% to 1.0%. While the second option does not have any such committed monthly fee, but attracts a higher transaction fee of 2% for each transaction.

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