Financial services major J P Morgan is all set to launch its first pre-paid travel card in India.

The product will be rolled out by the new-age private sector lender YES Bank, with whom the company has entered into a one-year agreement.

Yes Bank's President and Global Head of International Banking, Arun Agrawal said, "The card would be launched with Visa-affiliation and will carry the features of a debit card."

The bank will use JP Morgan's expertise in prepaid card solutions and provide YES Bank-branded Visa US Dollar prepaid travel cards to its customers.

Hosted on J P Moran's proprietary technology platform and supported by its robust process, the card is an ideal alternative to traditional foreign currency and travelers' cheques.

The card can be used anywhere in the world except India, Nepal and Bhutan. It enables a traveller to transact in local currency while traveling abroad and to have access to ATMs displaying Visa marks around the world.

The bank has chosen to work with the financial major because of the firm's knowledge and commitment in the prepaid card segment.

Today, the state-owned Corporation Bank has also launched its prepaid travel card in association with JP Morgan and Visa. The card is targeted at Indian overseas travelers.

The bank will soon launch such cards for currencies in Euros and Pounds and later for Yuan also.

"The travel card is a pre-funded card purchased in a local currency which will have the flexibility of debit card. A customer need not carry travelers cheques, debit or credit cards and reduce the risks of carrying such cards," said B R Bhatt, General Manager, Corporation Bank.

At any single instance the minimum and maximum loading amount for the card are US $200 and US $9000 respectively. According to the Foreign Exchange Mangement Act (FEMA), non-business travellers can load a maximum of US $ 10,000 in a year, while for business travellers the limit is US $ 25,000 per annum. However, multiple cards can be issued with each card amount not exceeding US $10,000 per annum.

"This programme has been developed to support our financial institution clients in their migration efforts to go from paper-based products to electronic payment instruments. We are delighted that Corporation Bank has chosen to work with J.P. Morgan on this programme, and we are confident that the synergy between the 2 firms would lead to the development of new card products and customized solutions for the India market" commented Percy Batliwalla, J.P. Morgan Managing Director and Head of Financial Institutions - Banks, Asia Pacific.