Visa Offers payWave In India; PayPoint Teams Up With Anywhere Sim

Welcome to The Axis, your late look at payments news from around the world. Coverage includes Visa’s offering of payWave in India as the country moves to a cashless economy. In addition, PayPoint has linked up with the U.K.’s Anywhere Sim, while the U.A.E.’s RAKBANK is working with INPAY for remittances.

PayPoint has teamed up with U.K. mobile operator Anywhere Sim to allow customers to buy airtime credit through a network of 29,000 retailers, PayPoint said in an announcement. With the integration, consumers can buy top-ups at retailers across the U.K., along with existing phone and online top-up options.

“The PayPoint deal brings Anywhere Sim to a huge network of physical locations across the U.K.,” Anywhere Sim Founder and CEO Matthew Wright said in the announcement. “The agreement enables us to continue to grow our business, expand our service and attract new customers.”

In India, Visa is offering consumers a contactless payWave card that allows consumers to complete a transaction without having to enter a PIN or sign a receipt for amounts up to 2,000 rupees, the company said in an announcement. The product comes as the Reserve Bank of India has a deadline of December 31 to convert magnetic strip cards to chip-based cards.

“Contactless payments are designed to replace the use of cash in busy retail environments where speed and convenience are important,” said T.R. Ramachandran, Visa group country manager for India and South Asia. “This is particularly suited for countries like India, which have high traffic pressures on a routine basis.”

And RAKBANK in the U.A.E. has teamed up with INPAY for remittances to European nations in an effort to provide lower remittance fees, according to reports. Customers can send money through digital banking platform and/or the bank’s 38 branches.

The move comes as the bank is expanding its global reach. The strategic partnership “will enable our customers to make secure, faster and convenient Euro transfers to 25 European nations,” RAKBANK’s COO Geoff Stecyk said in an announcement.