India's largest public sector bank State Bank of India in collaboration with UAE Exchange and Financial Services, a non-banking finance company, introduced SBI Bank Xpress Money Card.

The new Xpress Money Card backed by a VISA platform is a prepaid remittance card rolled-out specifically for remittances in India. Prepaid card according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is a payment instrument that could be used for purchasing goods and services against the monetary value stored in it.

After submission of KYC documents, banks provide customers with a kit including the card, a 16-digit identification number and personal identification number for operating the card. Currently, such cards are available for free in Kerala and would be provided in all Indian states going forward.

What does State Bank Xpress Money Card offers?

The new prepaid remittance card would facilitate inward remittances under Money Transfer Service Scheme from any of the outlet of UAE Exchange across the world. The card protected by a PIN is safe to hold and could be blocked as a regular debit or credit card in case of loss or theft.

The card could be loaded up to thirty times in a calendar year with ceiling on the loading amount of up to Rs. 50,000. The cardholder would thus receive the amount loaded on his card, doing away with the need to maintain a saving banks account specifically for the purpose. Further, the beneficiary would be informed regarding the remittance through a mobile banking alert.

How does the State Bank Xpress Money Card functions or operates?

State Bank Xpress Money Card issued to Indian-resident could be used by NRI relatives for remitting the amount. The resident-Indian needs to provide only the identification number to the relative , who using it could remit the money at any of the UAE Exchange outlet.

What are the important benefits of the Xpress Money card?

State Bank Xpress Money card offers access to cash through withdrawal facility at automated teller machines (ATMs) across India. In addition, the card also provides the advantage of performing offline and online transactions at point of sale (POS) terminals or on e-commerce sites respectively. Also, the card comes with no issuance or annual maintenance fee.

Nevertheless, the bank charges in case of loss of card, a sum amounting to Rs.100 and other courier charges for providing the new card as well as PIN. Also, in case the card has not been utilized for a period of six months or more and the loaded amount in the card is below Rs100, the bank holds the right to forfeit the entire amount. In case, the amount loaded in the card is more than Rs. 100, the bank would charge Rs. 100 as penalty fee and remit the remaining to the cardholder.

In case the cardholder requires physical statements for the card then he needs to pay Rs. 100.

What is the rationale for the newly launched Xpress Money card?

According to the Economic Times report, R K Saraf, deputy managing director for corporate strategy and new business at SBI, marked that the launch of State Bank Xpress Money Card is a step in the direction of supporting government's financial inclusion programme. Also, the new card would increase the saving tendency of beneficiaries.

R K Saraf also addressed the issue of rupee depreciation and reported an increase in remittances since few weeks.