Airtel Payments Bank targets over 10 million NCMC cards in 2 years

Airtel Payments Bank MD & CEO Anubrata Biswas

Airtel Payments Bank is betting big on ‘RuPay On-The-Go Cards’, enabled with NCMC, having issued 2.5 million such cards till date, and sees this card portfolio expanding to over 10 million over the period of two years, MD & CEO Anubrata Biswas told businessline. National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) protocol was launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2019.

The payments bank currently offers three variants of the card, i) RuPay On-the-Go Card, NCMC-enabled debit cards for savings account customers, ii) pre-paid cards for the wallet customers and iii) PPI-MTS version of the card, which is specifically meant for public transport payments.

It is also acquiring and issuance partner for five metros–Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Airport Express Line, Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), and Gujrat Metro Rail Corporation. It recently partnered with Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) to launch the Singara Chennai Card, Biswas said.

What are NCMC cards

In order to enhance the payment transaction convenience for customers using public transport, the NPCI launched ‘RuPay On-The-Go Cards’ backed by NCMC. This card can be used at transportation points (metro trains, buses, shared cars, ferries, autos, etc.) to tap and pay for travel.

“For instance, if you look at Delhi metro, it issues its own close-lopped cards and people can also purchase Airtel Payments Bank NCMC card from the metro station. Our card’s advantage is that if a person is travelling between two cities, they can use their card both at Delhi and Mumbai metros as standards are interoperable,” Biswas said. According to him, all metros have moved to this protocol.

“Indian cities cannot flourish unless you have a common and vibrant public transport payments acceptance system. It eases travelling via all modes of transport. So interoperability of payments for transport is very big enabling factor, similar to biometrics for Aadhar,” he said.

Unbundling of financial services

Biswas says the payments bank sees huge business opportunity in these cards as most customers who buy them opt to open a second bank account with Airtel Payments Bank just to conduct digital transactions.

“We have noticed that the once a customers buys NCMC card from us, the next time they tend to open safe second digital bank account with us. This is the classic case of how payments bank model allows people to choose products specifically meant to cater to their needs. The government’s vision is to integrate all modes of public transport. From autos, to buses, to cabs to ferries.”

Published on April 25, 2025