Andhra Bank issues India's first Visa-branded credit card
A year after Centralcard, Andhra Bank launched India's first Visa-branded credit card in 1981, plugging Indian plastic into a global network brand for the first time. Merchant acceptance finally started to widen.
One year after Central Bank of India’s Centralcard, Andhra Bank launched India’s first Visa-branded credit card in 1981. The difference is the logo. Centralcard worked in India only, with tiny acceptance — a handful of merchants. Visa branding plugged Indian plastic into a global network for the first time.
Acceptance is everything in cards. A credit card that only a few merchants take is a novelty; a card on a global network is a payment instrument. With Visa on the front, Indian acceptance finally started to widen beyond that handful of merchants.
The long shadow is bigger than the launch. The Visa/Mastercard duopoly that still routes nearly every Indian reward point starts here — every mile earned on an Indian travel card today moves across rails this card first connected to.
Our take: Centralcard proved an Indian bank could issue plastic. Andhra Bank proved the plastic could matter. Networks, not cards, are the real product — 1981 is when India joined one.