The largest private lender, ICICI Bank has joined hands with Visa to issue debit cards in the US market.

The strategic relationship will enable ICICI's New York Branch to issue Visa Debit cards in the US so as to extend convenience and worldwide acceptance of Visa Debit cards to the increasing customer base of the bank.

As per the agreement, the New York branch of ICICI will offer Visa Debit cards to its Global Indian account and other checking account customers. The move has been taken to facilitate the Indians moving overseas by having access to local banking facilities in the United States.

Head of ICICI Bank's US Branch, G V S Ramesh said, "We chose Visa as our strategic partner in the U.S. for exactly the same reason we work closely with Visa in India - they have an unmatched suite of payment products that allows our customers to pay securely and conveniently for every type of purchase. Visa Debit makes an important contribution to enhancing our relationship with our most valued customers."

"Visa has an unmatched suite of payment products that allows our customers to pay securely and conveniently for every type of purchase," he added.

The Global Indian Account provides a simultaneous access to a USD checking account at the bank's New York branch for use in US. Similarly a Rupee NRE account at ICICI Bank for use in India can also be accessed.

Meanwhile head of global consumer debit products, Visa Inc, Stacey Pinkerd said, "This new debit offering reflects ICICI's commitment to finding innovative ways to meet the evolving payment needs of its growing and geographically-distributed customer base."

"We look forward to continuing to work closely with ICICI in identifying new opportunities to tailor Visa's highly versatile debit platform to serve their customers and grow their global business," he added.