MasterCard Enables SBI Card Pay Feature

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Customers of MasterCard will now be able to use a payment feature based on Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology called SBI Card Pay.

This feature allows customers to create a virtual version of their physical SBI Credit Card on their mobile phones and then tap their phone at Near-Field-Communication (NFC) enabled Point of Sale (POS) terminals to make payments at merchants.

However, to use this service, customers with an Android smartphone (housing Android OS KitKat version 4.4 and above) have to register their SBI Credit Card on the SBI Card mobile application.

This creates a virtual card on their mobile phone for their physical credit card. Thereafter, customers can make payments at merchants simply by unlocking their mobile phone screen using fingerprints, the screen lock facility or an MPIN and tapping the phone at a Near-Field-Communication (NFC) POS.

It was explained that this simple ‘tap and pay’ contactless process makes the card payments swifter, hygienic and more seamless for customers.

Business Post reports that the SBI Card Pay is powered by Comviva’s HCE Module from its mobiquity® banking suite, which provides a comprehensive solution to banks and financial institutions to not only build, manage and control the omnichannel experiences, but also continuously iterate and engage the consumers, through instant configuration capability, marketing automation, personalization, and experimentation engine..

“Safety and security combined with quick and convenient payment experience is at the core of growing India’s digital economy.

“Mastercard is happy to partner with SBI Card and Comviva to bring the benefits of ‘Tap and Pay’ contactless payments to Indian consumers.

“These ‘tap and pay’ payments are secure, seamless, and more importantly are safe in time of COVID-19 pandemic.

“Mastercard is confident that the service will offer a better mobile payment experience for SBI Card cardholders. It will also encourage contactless payments, especially in a time when people prefer touch-free transactions in a safe and secure manner.

“With this new launch, Mastercard is strengthening the long-standing partnership with India’s largest pure-play credit card issuer,” the Chief Operating Officer, South Asia at Mastercard, Vikas Varma, commented on the launch.

On his part, the CEO of SBI Card, Mr Rama Mohan Rao Amara, stated that, “SBI Card Pay has redefined the payment experience for our customers.

“The ’Tap and Pay’ contactless experience is not just fast, secure and convenient, but also very relevant in COVID era from a safety perspective as customers simply need to tap their mobile phone on NFC enabled POS terminals to make payments.

“We are happy to extend SBI Card Pay feature on the Mastercard platform too. We believe that contactless payments will continue to play a key role in the country’s digital payments drive and as the supporting infrastructure increases countrywide, adoption is bound to accelerate significantly.”

The COO/EVP, Digital Financial Solutions at Comviva, Srinivas Nidugondi, stated that, “Globally, HCE and tokenization are making card payments frictionless and secure, and we believe that in India also they will redefine the card payment experience and bring it on par with the developed world.

“With the growing NFC POS infrastructure in India and mobile phones becoming de facto wallets for consumers, we expect ‘tap and pay’ services like SBI Card Pay are the future of card payments in India. The inclusion of SBI Cards on Mastercard platform will help to grow the usage of this service in the country.”