SBI and Indian Navy launch NAV-eCash Card

by Suman Gupta

Mumbai – October , 2021: Taking Digital India at high seas, Indian Navy and State Bank of India (SBI) launched SBI’s NAV-eCash Card onboard India’s largest Naval Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya. The launch of this card was done in presence of Shri C S Setty, Managing Director (Retail & Digital Banking), SBI and Vice Admiral R Harikumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command.

The launch of SBI’s NAV-eCash Card is an important milestone for digital payment solution and SBI’s commitment towards the GOI’s vision of Digital India and a conscious shift towards less-cash economy. The unique infrastructure at naval ships inhibits traditional payment solutions particularly when the ship is in high seas where there is no connectivity. NAV-eCash Card with its dual-chip technology will facilitate both online as well as offline transactions.

The Card will obviate the difficulties faced by personnel onboard in handling physical cash during deployment of the ship at high seas. The idea of such a card was jointly nurtured by SBI and Navy officials and the card takes care of the requirements of Navy to provide a seamless onboard experience. The new journey envisioned in the form of NAV- eCash Card will change the payment ecosystem while the ship is sailing with no dependency on cash for utilization of any of the services onboard.

Speaking at the occasion, Shri CS Setty, MD (Retail & Digital Banking), SBI, emphasized upon the Bank’s commitment towards defence forces and the long relationship with the armed forces of India. He also expressed the feeling of pride on being associated with defence forces. The concept will be replicated at other naval ships and various defence establishments for creating a secured, convenient and sustainable payment ecosystem.

About State Bank of India:State Bank of India is the largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers, and employees. It is also the largest mortgage lender in the country which has so far fulfilled the home buying dreams of 30 lakh Indian families. The home loan portfolio of the bank has crossed the milestone of Rs. 5 lakh crore. As on June 30, 2021, the bank has a deposit base of over Rs. 37 lakh crore with CASA ratio of nearly 46% and advances of more than Rs. 27 lakh crore. SBI commands a market share of 34.77% and about 31.11% in home loans and auto loans segment respectively. SBI has the largest network of 22,224 branches and 63,906 ATM / CDM in India with 71,705 BC outlets. The number of customers using internet banking and mobile banking stand roughly at 91 million and 20 million respectively. The integrated digital and lifestyle platform by SBI – YONO has close to 36 million registered users, which witnesses approximately 11 million logins per day. Accelerating the digital agenda, around 1.5 lakh accounts have been opened through YONO in the quarter ended June 2021. In terms of digital lending, the bank disbursed personal loans of around Rs. 2430 crore through the YONO mobile app in the same quarter. On social media platforms, SBI has the highest number of followers on Facebook and Twitter amongst all banks worldwide.