Visa Develops Electronic Payment Solution Using UIDAI Platform

Designed especially for the Un-Banked and Under-Banked Aadhaar Holders

Mumbai, Visa, a leading global electronic payments technology company has developed a unique payment solution, using the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) platform. The solution is designed to provide a payment infrastructure for Aadhaar holders, especially the un-banked and under-banked Aadhaar holders. Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique number that the UIDAI will issue to all Indian residents living in the country.

A very small proportion of the Indian population has bank accounts and UIDAI is building the Aadhaar platform, which can be used to bring banking services to the unbanked masses. The authority plans to issue Aadhaar numbers to 600 million residents over the next four years, with a 100 million expected to be enrolled in the first year.

As part of the proposed solution, once an individual enrolls into Aadhaar, the partner bank can issue a Visa payment card (linked to his / her Aadhaar biometric authentication). Visa is enhancing its systems to handle biometric data along with payment data and integrate with Aadhaar for authentication purposes. Visa is working with TSYS, a leading global technology company, as the biometric authentication technology partner, for the UIDAI project.

Elizabeth Buse, Visa Group Executive, said, “Many Indians have little or no access to the banking system in India. Now they will be able to benefit from all the security, reliability and convenience that a Visa payments card has to offer. This is a ground-breaking initiative and a great example of a public-private partnership in action. I am delighted Visa is part of such an important project in India.”

Uttam Nayak, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, said, “We have successfully demonstrated our capabilities of Visa’s proposed solution to the UIDAI and are excited about this collaboration. It will allow Visa to continue delivering on its commitment to extend the various benefits of electronic payments to the un-banked and under-banked communities in the country. Visa will provide its infrastructure to process payment transactions using biometric authentication from Aadhaar, and enable the Government of India to execute its financial inclusion strategies.”

The key benefits of the collaboration for the un-banked and under-banked population include:

* Easy and convenient access to central and state government benefit disbursements;
* Better management of funds and reduced risks associated with cash, by providing an option of immediate cash deposit to a no frill bank account;
* Payment options at merchants accepting Visa cards;
* Depositing or withdrawing cash at ATM or Micro ATM terminals;
* Convenience of booking train tickets, paying utility bills, etc.; and
* Enabling remittance of money in a secure manner by migrants to their families.

Keeping in mind the large un-banked and under-banked communities in many parts of the country, Visa along with its banking partners will soon launch a financial inclusion pilot, using the UIDAI platform, after identifying suitable locations.