Commonwealth Micro Finance India (CMFIL), a part of UK-based Commonwealth Business Council, has launched a multi-purpose prepaid debit card in India, targeting the unbanked segment in the country.

The company would be launching the cards in Tamil Nadu in the first phase and then go pan-India. It aims to sell 20 million cards by 2012 and has obtained a lease finance of Rs 600 crore for the purpose.

The commonwealth card would be available in both physical and virtual forms. The physical card is authenticated through a pin and biometric, while the virtual cards are authenticated through a pin.

“The purpose of the card is to bring down the cost of transaction to the end customer. These cards can also be used in retail outlets and a customer can avail a one per cent discount in the tied up outlets,” Mahesh Ramachandran, managing director and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Microfinance (India), said.

The physical commonwealth card can be used on points of sale (POS), ATMs and other such devices, while the virtual commonwealth card would enable a customer to use mobile banking and mobile commerce services. The company plans to set up three lakh POS across the country by 2012.

Ramachandran noted that in order to fund the infrastructure CMFIL has arranged an Rs 600 crore lease finance facility with a leading NBFC. However, he refused to name the NBFC.

The card would be a multipurpose card and would also facilitate international money remittances. The company would first roll out the card in north Chennai and aims to sell 30,000 cards in the next three months.

The investment would be about Rs 32 crore. The card is co-branded with Repco Bank. The bank’s branches across Tamil Nadu would also be offering services to the cardholders.

sanjayvijay@mydigitalfc.com