To make paying bills quicker and easier, state-owned telecommunication operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. is partnering with card provider ItzCash Card Ltd. to launch a cobranded prepaid card in India.
Launched July 14 in the cities of Chandigarh, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai, the Trust Card enables consumers to make bill payments online and from their phones using an integrated voice response system, a spokesperson for the operator tells PaymentsSource.
Trust Card cardholders may use their cards to make postpaid bill payments, prepaid top-ups for mobile phones and to pay for value-added services, such as ring tones, wallpaper and data services.
“Further, our subscribers will also be able to make payments for utilities like electricity, telephone, cooking gas and water; book rail and airline tickets; renew their cable subscriptions; and pay for government services” he adds.
The Trust Card is available in denominations of 250 rupees (US$5.6 or 3.9 euros), 500 rupees and 1,000 rupees at all ItzCash franchisees and from the operator’s retail outlets, according to the spokesperson.
ItzCash is India’s largest nonbank issuer of semiclosed prepaid payment cards and is one of the first companies to introduce and facilitate mobile- and e-commerce services for India’s consumers.
A third party issues semiclosed prepaid cards instead of the retailer that accepts them. Cardholders may redeem the value in their card accounts at multiple merchants within a geographical area.
ItzCash’s flagship product is the ItzCash Card, a scratch-off card with an account number and password used to initiate online and mobile-payment transactions. It is available in various denominations ranging from 750 rupees to 9,000 rupees.
