On Wednesday, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) and HDFC Bank announced a partnership to launch a travel credit card with their respective brands. The IRCTC HDFC Bank Credit Card, a co-branded card with a single type, is available on the NPCI Rupay network.
After the State Bank of India and the Bank of Baroda, this is IRCTC’s third partnership.
According to HDFC Bank Group Head (Payments, Consumer Finance, Digital Banking and IT) Parag Rao, the card will provide exclusive benefits and the maximum savings on train ticket bookings made through the IRCTC’s ticketing website and the IRCTC Rail Connect app.
He added that IRCTC HDFC Bank Credit cardholders will also have access to a number of executive lounges at railway stations across the nation, as well as a tempting joining bonus and discounts on bookings.
Rajni Hasija, chairman and managing director of the IRCTC, made a statement regarding the partnership, stating that the co-branded card grants exclusive access to newly opened lounges found at the majority of the major railway stations.
She continued, “The credit card will help to streamline online transactions and offer customers benefits and an experience.”
Customers were left in the dark for a few hours on Tuesday when HDFC Bank’s internet banking site and mobile app went down. On the day that the majority of customers were supposed to receive their paychecks, this took place.
On Twitter, a number of users complained that they were repeatedly logged out of the app and that they were unable to conduct any transactions for more than two hours.
Due to a pattern of technological failures at the company, the RBI prohibited HDFC Bank, the market leader in credit cards, from launching new digital projects and issuing new cards in December 2020.
The RBI took action after a number of Internet banking, mobile banking, and payment utility breakdowns over the previous two years. SBI Cards and ICICI Bank, competitors, seized the chance to catch HDFC Bank.
After taking legal action against HDFC Bank, Mastercard and American Express immediately stopped issuing new cards because they disregarded the requirements for data localization.
