The country's largest state-run lender SBI is considering discontinuing the omnipresent debit cards from the banking system to promote more of digital payment transactions. This is despite the heavy reliance of SBI's customers on debit cards.

On the sidelines of the annual Fibac, SBI's Chairman Rajnish Kumar said,
"...it is our wish to eliminate the debit cards, & am sure we can eliminate them".
Kumar said that digital platforms such as the bank's own 'Yono' interface can play an instrumental role to help India become a debit card-less country. He further emphasized that using the SBI's Yono solution, one can withdraw cash at automated teller machines and even pay retailers against purchases made without the card.

Moreover, the bank has deployed some 68,000 ' Yono cashpoints' and it will be further scaled up to 10,00,000 in the next 18 months time, which will reduce the need to carry a card even more. Also, for purchase of some of the goods, Yono will extend credit thus rendering credit card in the pocket also as a "stand-by", said Kumar.

GoodReturns.in