Prepaid payment instruments are methods that facilitate purchase of goods and services against the value stored on such instruments. The value stored on such instruments represents the value paid for by the holder, by cash, by debit to a bank account, or by credit card.Guidelines for issuance and operation of Prepaid Payment Instruments in India
Reserve Bank of India
Rbi.org.in. Retrieved on 2016-03-29. The prepaid instruments can be issued as

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magnetic stripe card The term digital card can refer to a physical item, such as a memory card on a camera, or, increasingly since 2017, to the digital content hosted as a virtual card or cloud card, as a digital virtual representation of a physical card. They share ...

s, internet accounts,

online wallet An online wallet is a software or web service that allows users to store and control their online shopping information, such as logins, password A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typicall ...

s, mobile accounts, mobile wallets, paper vouchers and any such instruments used to access the prepaid amount.

Categories of Prepaid Payment Instruments

The prepaid payment instruments that can be issued in the country are classified under following categories:

Closed System Payment Instruments

These are payment instruments issued by a person for facilitating the purchase of goods and services from him/her/them/it.

Semi-Closed System Payment Instruments

These payment instruments are redeemable at a group of clearly identified merchants that contract specifically with the issuer to accept the payment instrument. These instruments do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption by the holder.

Semi-open System Payment Instruments

These are payment instruments that can be used to purchase goods and services at any card-accepting merchant locations (Point of sale terminals). These instruments do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption by the holder.

Open System Payment Instruments

These payment instruments can be used for purchase of goods and services and also permit cash withdrawal at ATMs, Merchant Local Locations, and automated business correspondents.

Mobile Prepaid Instruments

These are prepaid talk time instruments issued by mobile service providers. This talk time value can also be used to purchase 'value added service' from the mobile service provider or third-party service providers.

Eligibility

Source: #Banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC), who comply with the eligibility criteria, would be permitted to issue all categories of prepaid payment instruments. #Only banks permitted to provide

Mobile Banking Mobile banking is a service provided by a bank or other financial institution that allows its customers to conduct financial transactions remotely using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. Unlike the related internet banking it uses ...

Transactions by the

Reserve Bank of India The Reserve Bank of India, chiefly known as RBI, is India's central bank and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is responsible for ...

shall be permitted to launch mobile based prepaid payment instruments. #Other entities would be permitted to issue only closed system prepaid payment instruments and semi-closed system prepaid payment instruments. #Mobile Service Providers are permitted to issue mobile prepaid value. In addition to talk-value the use of such prepaid value as a payment instrument shall be restricted to the purchase of only such value added digital contents or services for use on the mobile phones. The use of mobile prepaid value for purchase of other goods and services shall not be permitted.

List of authorized Prepaid Payment Instruments in India

There are about 43 authorized prepaid payment instruments registered in India. Complete list can be accessed o
publication
issued by

References

Master Circular – Policy Guidelines on Issuance and Operation of Pre-paid Payment Instruments in India
* https://rbi.org.in/Scripts/PublicationsView.aspx?id=12043
The mobile wallet ecosystem in India
{{Banking in India , state=expanded E-commerce in India Payment and settlement systems in India