INDIA. Mumbai: With a view to strengthen the Digital India initiative of the Government of India, the State Bank of India launched a new card named NAV-eCash onboard the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya,based at Karwar in Karnataka on Friday.
The card was jointly unveiled by Vice Admiral R Hari Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command and Managing Director (Retail and Digital Banking), SBI I CS Setty, an official statement said.
The card is a unique milestone in banking operations and uses dual-chip card technology that enables payments, in the offline and online environment. It also has all features of a regular debit or prepaid card in the online mode. It was conceptualized by a team of officers of INS Vikramaditya and brought to reality by the SBI, India’s largest public sector bank.
The card is designed to replace cash payments with digital transactions even in areas devoid of real-time internet connectivity, like warships at sea, offshore oil platforms, and remote areas.
INS Vikramaditya is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier and the flagship of the Indian Navy. She is India’s biggest aircraft carrier, named after a legendary Indian king from Ujjain. INS Vikramaditya, which refers to one having valour like the Sun, is a former USSR carrier vessel, entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013. INS Vikramaditya replaced India’s primary carrier INS Viraat which served until 2015. The SBI Nav-eCash card facility is certain to benefit nearly 1600 personnel on board, INS Vikramaditya.
