First Transit Card Of Nation:
State Bank of India has launched its ‘Nation First Transit Card’, a RuPay prepaid instrument under the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) that can be used nationwide.
- Nation First Transit Card aims to facilitate a seamless and convenient customer commuting experience and ensure easy digital ticketing fare payments in metro, buses, water ferries, parking, etc., through a single card.
- In addition, individuals can also use this card for making retail and e-commerce payments.
- It is powered by RuPay and National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) technology.
- National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) feature enables the Bank’s customers to use their Debit Cards as travel cards for travelling on Metro Rail and Buses where this facility is enabled.
- The idea of NCMC was floated by the Nandan Nilekani committee set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
- NCMC is an initiative of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in India designed to promote cashless transactions and offer a unified payment platform for commuters.
- It was launched on March 4, 2019.
- It offers a unified contactless transport solution through the RuPay platform, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
- NCMC is an automatic fare collection system. It will turn smartphones into an inter-operable transport card that commuters can use eventually to pay for Metro, bus and suburban railway services.
