Moneycontrol Bureau
Public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to completely waive off Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges on debit card transactions for all small merchants having an annual turnover of up to Rs 20 lakh. This offer, which is valid up till the end of 2017, is in line with bank's initiative to help small merchants adopt PoS terminals in their shops.
The bank said that it is committed to the government’s drive to promote digital economy. It has been deploying terminals in smaller towns, semi urban and rural areas as part of a larger national objective to create an enabling infrastructure for PoS machines.
Close to 70 percent of SBI’s PoS terminals are deployed in non-metro centres, and these can be found in as many as 4,400 plus centres.
The move is targeted primarily at a segment of population and small merchants, who have not yet experienced the convenience of card payments, according to SBI. The bank believed that this gesture would go a long way in changing the perception towards the cost of using digital channels and supplement the government’s cashless India drive.
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