ICICI Bank, in partnership with Tech Mahindra, launched a contactless payment service – ‘Tap and Pay’. Based on the Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, this payment service enables anyone (account holder of ICICI Bank or not) to make over-the-counter payments without using cash. It allows users to just tap the NFC enabled tag or mobile phone at the merchant’s POS device to make payments. The bank said in a statement ‘Tap n Pay’ is a prepaid account, which can be availed by customers of any bank by registering for it and transferring money online from any bank account. ICICI Bank customers can also transfer money to the Tap-n-Pay account through an SMS. The bank has started to offer this solution at large campuses of corporate offices. The two entities plan to extend the service across the country. Rajiv Sabharwal, ED of the bank said this initiative will offer a new, differentiated digital solution to replace cash for regular and small value payments made over the counter in large campuses. This service will offer users to make quick and safe payments like buying meal coupons at canteens with a tap of their mobile phone or the NFC tag. The bank said it will allow any bank to register for ‘Tap-n-Pay’ with no documentation or branch visit. However, once an organization has enrolled for the service, its employee needs to register online with their details to use the facility and collect the NFC tag from the kiosk set up for this purpose.
