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Can we write off debit cards?

SBI wants to eliminate debit cards in five years, and replace them with payments apps

Pranit Sarda
Published: Aug 27, 2019 09:08:28 AM IST
Updated: Aug 27, 2019 02:40:13 PM IST

Can we write off debit cards?Image: Shutterstock

State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar spoke about eliminating debit cards in five years and replacing them with the bank’s You Only Need One digital payments app, but experts think otherwise.

Nitin Aggarwal, banking analyst at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, says, “This does not seem feasible because cash and plastic money are the most widely used instruments in India. Digital payments’ penetration is really low.”
Can we write off debit cards?

Gayathri Parthasarathy, national head, financial services, KPMG in India, disagrees. “Indian banking is poised for a significant evolution in the payments space,” she says.

A host of digital payments apps are making their presence felt in the country, but it would be a challenge to educate senior citizens and the rural population about them. Besides, even the most advanced and cashless economies in the world have not shifted entirely from debit cards to digital payments solutions.

(This story appears in the 13 September, 2019 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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