Visa Teams up with Innoviti to Boost Offline Payments in India

The global digital payment leader Visa has formed a partnership with Innoviti Payment Solutions (Innoviti), India’s pioneer in providing payment solutions with offline enterprise merchants, to boost a Proof of Concept (POC) for offline payments in India.

The offline payment technology, which aligns with Indian government’s vision of driving greater financial inclusion, will extend the coverage of digital payments into small towns and rural areas, where Internet is patchy and unstable, via chip-based Visa debit, credit, and prepaid cards.

Lack of Internet connectivity have limited the democratization of digital payment acceptance in the country, as all existing payment technologies need real-time connectivity for authentication and authorization, according to Rajeev Agrawal, Managing Director & CEO, Innoviti.

Reportedly, the POC has been implemented by Innoviti in Bengaluru in collaboration with Yes Bank and Axis Bank. Besides, regarding the Visa debit card, daily expense is limited to INR 2000, with per transaction limit of INR 200, which is mandated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

“With the RBI’s cognizance of low and no connectivity being major impediments to financial inclusion, offline payments have emerged as an innovative and low-cost solution, where internet connectivity and failed transactions are top concerns of consumers and merchants. Visa aims to change the way we pay, and this POC is going to do just that,” said T.R. Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa.