New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at an event on Tuesday that banks should discourage non-digital payments and that state banks should promote RuPay cards over any other card.
Addressing the 73rd Annual General Meeting of the Indian Banking Association (IBA) via video conference, he asked banks to ensure that all accounts are linked with the Aadhaar numbers of their respective customers by the 31st. March 2021.
He said the country’s financial inclusion story is not over and banks still have inclusion to move forward. There are many accounts that are not linked to Aadhaar.
“… by March 31, 2021, each account should have a PAN where needed and where applicable, and Aadhaar on each of its accounts,” Sitharaman said, PTI reported.
He said banks should discourage non-digital payments and should bet on promoting digital payment techniques and also adopt many of the payments powered by UPI.
“UPI should be a common word in all of our banks,” the finance minister said, adding that banks should promote RuPay cards.
“Whoever needs the card, RuPay will be the only card they will promote,” he said.
Sitharaman also said that the country is thirsty for big banks and that all the merged banks should work towards growth.
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