New Delhi, Jan 14 (KNN) Private lender ICICI Bank has tied up with Fintech Niyo to issue prepaid cards to workers of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

With this, the MSMEs will now be able to avail ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’ powered by Visa, for their blue-collar workers, who are mostly unbanked.

MSMEs will now be able to send the salaries of their workers on the card, which the workers will use as per their need in a seamless manner. The ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’ allows an individual to receive funds upto Rs. 1 lakh into the card account.

“We are delighted to partner with Niyo for the ‘ICICI Bank Niyo Bharat Payroll Card’. This partnership is yet another initiative by us to make banking products easily accessible to the underbanked population. We believe that armed with this card, workers of MSMEs will be able to enjoy the convenience and safety of digital banking,'' said Sudipta Roy, Head – Unsecured Assets, ICICI Bank.

Vinay Bagri, Co-founder and CEO, said that the Niyo Bharat Digital Salary Solution has the potential to bring millions of blue collared salaried workforces into the formal economy and also support the nation’s successful march towards Digital India.

''Our primary objective is to provide digital banking solutions for the blue-collar segment to not only foster financial inclusion but also inculcate a long-term saving habit among them,” he added.

Reportedly, any MSME can tie-up with Niyo to avail the prepaid card. After the tie-up, cards are issued to the workers at their workplace itself while their KYC verification is done simultaneously using a biometric device. Once activated, workers can use the card to withdraw funds at ATMs, make online transactions on e-commerce portals and make payment by swiping the card at Point of Sale (PoS) machines.

Niyo also offers a multilingual app called ‘Niyo Bharat Mobile app’. Workers can download this app from Google Play Store and register themselves. The app will enable them to transfer funds, pay bills or do recharges online. It also allows them to block/unblock the card which provides them control of their card security.

The cardholders also get a free accidental death insurance cover.