Cash Cards Get Their Place In The Sun
According to this article in the Business Standard, cash cards are increasingly being accepted as a mode of payment for online ticketing. For instance, in the last six months, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has seen reservations through cash cards increase by 1 per cent every month. The number of bookings through credit cards, on the other hand, is coming down by 1 per cent every month.
For instance, of the 2.2 million tickets booked this February by IRCTC, almost 600,000 tickets were booked through cash cards, accounting for 27% of the Rs. 221 crore revenue for February.
“IRCTC has tie-ups with close to 30 banks but the booking done by three cash card operators is the same as these banks. Penetration of cash cards is three times more than credit cards,” says Sanjay Aggarwal, general manager (operations), Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
Could one of the reasons be the low penetration of credit cards, or is it because cash cards are more of a cash business which does not leave any financial footprints of the customer? In this case, however, cash cards should be equally prominent for other forms of online payments.