Speak now

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told bankers on Tuesday to only issue Rupay cards as the first option to customers, and also to seed all bank accounts with Aadhaar number and, wherever necessary, with the pan card by December this year. “Rupay should be the only card that you must promote,” Sitharaman said in her address as the chief guest at the 73rd Annual General Meeting of the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). “Make sure the NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) can become a ‘brand India’ product. Whenever issuing a card, you must first issue a Rupay (floated by NPCI) card,” the finance minister said in her address. “Indian banks have done a tremendous job, but the financial inclusion drive is not over. I will not be patient to hear that there still exist accounts not Aadhaar seeded, and linked with Pan cards wherever needed beyond December 31st. There should not be any unverified account in the system,” the finance minister said, while clarifying a few moments later that the deadline could be extended till March next year at the maximum.