Mahila Money, Visa, & Transcorp to Unveil Prepaid Card to Assist Women Entrepreneurs

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 16 March 2022

Mahila Money, Visa, and Transcorp have partnered to launch the Mahila Money Prepaid Card, a product targeted at assisting women entrepreneurs in making more effective use of digital payments. According to a press release, the alliance draws on the knowledge of Visa, the global leader in payments, Transcorp PPI, and Mahila Money's highly engaged community.

Mahila Money's founder, Sairee Chahal, stated, “India is witnessing unprecedented adoption of digital financial products and mainstreaming of entrepreneurship."

The prepaid card has been created with digital entrepreneurs, small company owners, and women in mind. The card is designed for people of the community who want the flexibility, safety, and convenience of a bank account. For millions of women entrepreneurs, our collaboration will pave the door to economic freedom and financial inclusion.

Sujai Raina, Visa India's Vice President and Head of Business Development, commented, “At Visa, we believe it is our mission to work with our partners to uplift everyone–especially in India. We have a long history of supporting women entrepreneurs, a fast-growing yet underserved segment, whether through the iFundWomen and Visa grants program or coaching women micro-entrepreneurs across India on digital payments.”

Despite the fact that 80.7 percent of women in rural regions and 81 percent of women in urban areas have bank accounts, data shows that 55 percent of women do not actively use their bank accounts, according to the All-India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS). According to a recent YouGov survey, nearly two-thirds of urban Indian women utilise digital ways of payment, while less than one-third use internet banking.

Ayan Agarwal, Transcorp's Head of PPI Division, stated, “We are honored to power Mahila Money, which harnesses the potential of two of India’s most promising elements: women and fintech. As India’s premier non-bank card issuer, Transcorp takes pride in enabling financial independence for Indian women, and continuously strives to deliver success to its fintech partners through the optimization of stakeholder alignment."

The prepaid card offering will complement Mahila Money's existing quick and hassle-free access to loans for women entrepreneurs in India, as it hopes to drive financial adoption for an underserved group.

The Mahila Money Prepaid Card has the following features and benefits:

-The card allows women entrepreneurs to receive payments for their enterprises digitally and helps them enhance their operating capital by allowing loans to be paid straight into the card.

-The Mahila Money ecosystem of partners offers users incentives, rewards, and cashback.

-The card is excellent for women who do not have active bank accounts but wish to conduct digital transactions for their enterprises and costs.

-The use of the card will be relatively straightforward for first-time digital businesses who are hesitant of using their bank accounts to set up online stores or collect payments.

-The Mahila Money Prepaid Card is a fully digital product that is simple to use, safe, and protects user privacy, making it ideal for women who want to utilise financial products independently for their business.

-In addition to the digital card that will be provided by default, a physical copy of the card can be requested.

As India's first non-bank co-brand offering on the Visa network, Transcorp, a 27-year-old Reserve Bank of India-regulated PPI licence holder, is powering the cards.

Mahila Money, a full-stack financial services platform for women, was launched six months ago and has seen over 250 times growth since then, as women in the community continue to adopt goods and services.

Mahila Money provides loans and goods to women entrepreneurs to assist them in growing their enterprises, meeting working capital requirements, and providing productive loans for employment, entrepreneurship, and growth prospects. According to the press release, "The Mahila Money community is an actively engaged platform for women built to support financial literacy and entrepreneurship, and provide resources to women to succeed in life."