First to support Indian banks with formal card personalization validation services for RuPay payment cards

Indian banks seeking to issue EMV^® chip payment cards on the RuPay payment scheme can now work with FIME to validate their card personalization in line with the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) requirements. FIME, an industry leading EMV migration service provider, is the first to be accredited to perform this chip validation (Chip V) service as part of the RuPay certification programme.

This news follows the announcement in 2014 that NPCI, the umbrella organization which covers all retail payment schemes in the country, had appointed FIME to set up the RuPay certification scheme. As part of India’s financial inclusion plan, Pradhan Mantri Jan – Dhan Yojana, 131 million RuPay magnetic stripe debit cards have already been issued and this number is growing rapidly. All of these cards will, in time, be migrated to EMV.

This latest accreditation will support Indian issuers by accelerating their RuPay card certifications as they work towards launching EMV card programmes in line with the country-wide migration to chip technology. Banks can also ensure a smooth certification process by using FIME’s personalization validation test tool, PersevalPro, co-developed with Barnes International, for pre-certification testing. The tool, with its newly-qualified RuPay libraries, is used by issuers during the development process in advance of FIME’s formal approval services, mitigating the risk of issues at this final stage.

“We are a single point of contact for Indian issuers seeking RuPay Chip V approval,” comments Prakash Sambandam, Director at FIME India. “Indian banks are responding to market demands for more convenient and secure ways to pay and we are here to support them in bringing these new products and services to market in an efficient, cost-effective, and interoperable way. Our experienced team of EMV experts is on the ground in India, ready to help drive the migration forward.”