ICICI Bank today introduced a debit card facility for the customers availing the Loan Against Securities (LAS) from the lender. It is the first bank in India to offer the service after the RBI allowing banks to issue electronic cards to customers who avail an OD facility, which is of the nature of a personal loan with no specific end-use restriction.
The debit card is available on the Visa platform and can ber used by customers across all domestic merchant establishments to make seamless POS and online transactions like payments on e-commerce portals among others, using their sanctioned LAS amount.
Sudipta Roy, Head – Unsecured Assets, ICICI Bank said, “We at ICICI Bank always strive to enhance our customer’s convenience and make banking more accessible as well as hassle-free for them. This new facility aims to provide greater accessibility to our customers to their sanctioned loan amount and enables them to use it in a frictionless manner to meet their varied needs. Also, the card is another step forward in our endeavor to constantly harness the digital prowess of the bank to provide pioneering new facilities to our customers. We are delighted to be the first bank to implement this facility following the directive issued by the regulator. We believe that these new guidelines will make overdrafts more digital friendly and make the overall experience of the end-customer hassle-free and quick.”
TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, Visa, India & South Asia, said, “RBI’s directive allowing digital credentials for Overdraft Accounts has come at an opportune time as businesses attempt to bounce back from the pandemic. We are pleased to partner with ICICI Bank in launching this innovative Debit Card product linked to an overdraft account, which also forms an integral part of Visa’s endeavor to grow credit access in India. This product allows Visa cardholders the convenience to use their overdraft credit limit with ICICI for everyday purchases, across ecommerce and face to face merchants, seamlessly.”
