Benefits of Rupay Kisan Card

After RuPay debit card, RuPay Kisan Card was launched on 24th November 2012 in order to assist farmers. Under this scheme, credit is directly transferred into the farmers account so that purchase of necessary agriculture things such as fertilizers, pesticides etc. can be done faster pace.

Benefits of RuPay Kisan card are as follows:

• Credit requirement of farmers can be met by this card
• Farmers can make business transactions/money withdrawal via over 1,00,000 ATM’s and PoS terminals
• There is no entry fee for the farmers. Whereas in case of Visa and Mastercard; there is a entry fee associated
• It is very secured as card owners need to apply PIN during every transaction
• Annual or quarterly charges are very low as compared to international cards such as Mastercard and Visa
• The biggest benefit of RuPay kisan credit card over normal kisan credit card is that the farmer don’t have to personally visit PACS or card issuing bank for operating the account
• Prompt and uninterrupted services
• Subsidy on fertilizer and diesel can be deposited in the crop loan account of the farmers
• Interest Rate is low and repayment duration is high. Also see uses of RuPay Debit Card

Where to Apply and How to Get RuPay Kisan Card

RuPay Kisan Card is issued by many public, private and co-operative banks. Here is the list of banks along with their bank’s website link:

• Vijaya Bank
• Bank of India
• Indian Overseas Bank
• Punjab National Bank (search for RuPay Debit & Kisan Card on the PNB page)
• Bank of Maharashtra (Over 30,000 cards have been issued)
• Axis Bank
• Himachal Co-operative Bank

In order to get RuPay debit card for free, you can also open bank account under Jan Dhan Scheme at these banks.

Eligibility/Pre-Requisites for RuPay Kisan Card

For getting this card, every Indian banks has set certain rules and eligibility criteria. Listed below are basic common conditions:

• Only farmers or Kisan cash credit account holders are eligible for this card
• Cash withdrawal possible only through RuPay enabled ATM and PoS
• Maximum amount that can be withdrawn will vary according to the banks and their ATM’s. Same condition applies for withdrawal from PoS.
• Most of the banks have a pre-requisite of having account with their bank in order to apply for RuPay Kisan Card
• The card can only be used for purchase of agricultural goods
• Valid only in India

On 24March2015, IRCTC RuPay Pre-Paid debit card was launched for booking train tickets. Get more details about this card here.