As a continuation to the RuPay Phase I project that allowed Bhutanese ATM terminals to accept RuPay branded cards issued by banks in India, His Excellency Shri Narendra Modi, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and His Excellency Dr. Lotay Tshering, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan, jointly e-launched the RuPay card issuance by the Bhutan National Bank Limited (BNBL) on 20th November 2020.

The RuPay card scheme is a cross-border payment initiative between the two countries and is aimed at promoting the use of low-cost digital payment solutions and advance digital financial inclusion. RuPay card is more affordable than other international card schemes transactions-wise, and secured against fraudulent transactions by the EMV chip, protected by cryptographic encryption, that prevents card-cloning, and provides enhanced security and protection.

The launch of RuPay card scheme in Bhutan is made possible by the interconnectivity of the Bhutan Financial Switch (BFS) with India’s National Financial Switch (NFS), operated by the National Payment Corporation of India, all BNB RuPay transactions are routed through the BNB’s financial switch for authentication and authorization.

BNB RuPay debit cards are accepted at more than 100,000 ATMs and 2 million PoS terminals deployed by the member banks of the National Payments Corporation of India for cash withdrawal, balance inquiry, and purchases.

Since the card is issued instantly over-the-counter, please walk in to the BNB branch nearest to you and request for it.

If you prefer to apply for it online, you can do so but online request may take some time to be processed.