State Bank of India or SBI, which is India’s biggest bank is about to start a new trend of banking, wherein there will be no place for debit cards.
Yes, you heard it right.
SBI wants to eliminate the usage of debit cards, and this can trigger a new wave of innovation, across the country, especially when it comes to cashless transactions.
But then, what will replace debit cards?
SBI Wants You To Stop Using Debit Cards
During the annual Fibac event in Mumbai, SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar declared that SBI wants to eliminate the usage of debit cards.
He said, “…it is our wish to eliminate the debit cards, and am sure we can eliminate them,”
Strategically speaking, this is indeed a bold, and very powerful step by SBI, since debit cards is the ruling the charts, when it comes to cashless transactions in India.
Compared to 3 crore credit card users, there are 90 crore debit card users in India. And SBI, which provides banking to almost 1/5th of the Indians, is saying that debit cards will need to be eliminated in the future.
But then, what will be the alternative?
SBI Wants Their Customers To Use YONO
YONO or You Only Need One is an integrated digital banking platform, launched by SBI in 2017.
This year, they launched cardless withdrawal facility from ATMs, using YONO, and this what SBI wants their customers to use and adapt.
Rajnish said they have now established 68,000 YONO Points across the nation, wherein their customers can withdraw cash without any debit card, and if this is widely used, there will be no need to use debit cards.
In the next 18 months, SBI plans to launch 10 lakh such YONO points.
Besides, YONO points can also provide credit to the customer, thereby eliminating the need for any credit card as well.
As per Rajnish, very soon, such integrated digital banking platforms and coupons will be the trend, and debit cards will go out of fashion.
In case SBI is able to make YONO way of banking a major success, then other banks too will try to replicate the model in their own banking system, thereby putting an end to the usage of debit cards as we know it.
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