Visa may soon introduce a new payment innovation in India that will remove the need to carry separate credit and debit cards. This feature allows instant payments using a single card number.
Visa has already launched this in Japan with positive results and is now preparing to bring it to India.
The new card, called the Visa Flexible Credential (Visa Flex), uses a single 16-digit number that can work as both a credit card and a debit card.
How it is used depends on the transaction amount, the type of merchant, customer preference, and the bank’s risk rules.
For example, small purchases can be made using the debit function, while larger transactions can be charged to credit.
Sandip Ghosh, Group Country Manager for India and South Asia at Visa, explained, “Many Indians hold multiple cards, which can make it confusing to select the right one at checkout.
Visa Flex combines multiple funding options—debit, credit, prepaid, BNPL—into a single 16-digit card number.”
How Visa Flex Works
Users can set simple rules on their bank’s app. For instance:
Daily household expenses can use debit.
High-end purchases can use credit.
Spending abroad can use a forex option.
This removes the need to swap cards at stores or online and allows payments with just one card.
Visa Flex was first introduced in Japan as Olive, in partnership with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Sumitomo Mitsui Card Co. Olive allows users to switch between debit, credit, and reward points.
It is currently used by over 5 million people in Japan and saw 40% more transactions than the national average last year.
For small businesses, Olive also allows switching between business and personal accounts with the same card, helping with better cash flow and credit management. Ghosh said Visa plans to bring this feature to India, pending regulatory approval.
Opportunities in India
India is an important market for Visa due to low credit card penetration. Nearly 50% of consumer transactions in India’s $1 trillion market are still in cash.
Credit card adoption in India has been slow:
2023: Grew nearly 20%
2024 (projected): ~10% growth
Through November 2025 (projected): 6.3% year-on-year growth
Visa sees an opportunity to simplify payments and increase credit card usage with the introduction of Visa Flex.
