Sri Lanka’s National Development Bank has launched a pre-paid wallet cum debit card, iTapIt. The payment mechanism can be used by customers at malls, restaurants, tea plantations and at schools. The technology is being provided by an Indian IT firm, Yeldi Softcom. NDB’s CEO Rajendra Theagarajah said the card was used by bank staff as an in-house canteen payment card. He said NDB will focus on marketing the card to large enterprises, government sectors and allied BFSI organizations like cooperative banks. iTapIt will go a long way in helping the Sri Lanka’s masses, who predominantly use cash right now, he added. iTapIt comes with both a magnetic strip and near-field communication (NFC) chip – that makes it useable at conventional swipe machines, ATMs and next-gen Tap & Pay NFC terminals. Some 5,000 iTapIt cards have already been issued and the bank is aiming at a figure of 5 lakh cards this year.
