ICICI Bank ties up with Niyo to issue prepaid cards to MSMEs
By Edil Corneille
MSMEs will now be able to get the ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’ powered by Visa, for their blue-collar workers, who are mostly under-banked.
Indian private sector bank, ICICI Bank, and Bangalore-based Niyo, a FinTech company, have partnered to issue prepaid cards to workers of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Enterprises can upload the salaries of their workers on the card. The ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’ allows an individual to receive funds up to INR 100,000 into the card account. It offers the convenience and safety of digital banking while providing a salary disbursement solution to employers.
With this, Niyo has announced its goal of reaching 5 million blue-collar workers in the next 5 years with its flagship product Niyo Bharat. Niyo Bharat currently has over 1.7 million customers and relationships with over 7,000 corporates, adding nearly 5,000 customers every day.
Sudipta Roy, Head – Unsecured Assets, ICICI Bank said, “We at ICICI Bank constantly strive to introduce facilities that foster inclusivity and extend the reach of the formal banking ecosystem. In line with this, we are delighted to partner with Niyo for the ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’. This partnership is yet another initiative by us to make banking products easily accessible to the underbanked population. We believe that armed with this card, workers of MSMEs will be able to enjoy the convenience and safety of digital banking.”
Niyo Co-founder and CEO Vinay Bagri said, “The Niyo Bharat Digital Salary Solution has the potential to bring millions of blue collared salaried workforces into the formal economy and also support the nation’s successful march towards Digital India. Our primary objective is to provide digital banking solutions for the blue-collar segment to not only foster financial inclusion but also inculcate a long-term saving habit among them.”
How it works: Any MSME can tie-up with Niyo to avail the prepaid card. After the tie-up, cards are issued to the workers at their workplace itself while their KYC verification is done simultaneously using a biometric device. Once activated, workers can use the card to withdraw funds at ATMs, make online transactions on e-commerce portals and make payment by swiping the card at Point of Sale (PoS) machines.
Niyo offers a multilingual app called ‘Niyo Bharat Mobile app’ which can be downloaded from Google Play Store. The app will enable the registered workers to transfer funds, pay bills or conduct recharges online. It also allows them to block/unblock the card, thereby giving control to the individuals of their card security. The cardholders also get a free accidental death insurance cover.
Niyo’s 24 x 7 Customer Service Team caters to issues arising at any hour of the day via a multilingual captive call centre facility.
Darpan Sharma, Business Head-Niyo Bharat said, “Partnership with ICICI Bank is a milestone in our journey to provide best in class service to the underbanked blue collar segment. The partnership will create opportunity to provide all banking services to this segment across the length and breadth of the country.”
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