Christened ‘Odyssey City Card’, this pre-paid multi-purpose card is a first-of-its-kind offering in the city that has been designed to enable residents to make quick and easy payments for an array of services like property tax, water bills, vehicle parking fees and trade license fee for traders and businesses among others, in a seamless manner. The card can also be used for making payments at retail merchant outlets enabled with POS machines across the country, as well as on e-commerce websites.

The ‘Odyssey City Card’ was unveiled by Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha along with Mr. Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank at the State Secretariat. The occasion was also graced by Mr. Ananta Narayan Jena, Hon’ble Mayor of Bhubaneswar, Mr. Bijaya Kumar Mohanty, Hon’ble MLA, Bhubaneswar Central and Mr. Priyadarshi Mishra, Hon’ble MLA, Bhubaneswar North.

The Hon’ble Chief Minister also launched 25 ‘My Odyssey Centres’, where the ‘Odyssey City Card’ will be available for issuance.

Talking about the new proposition, Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Government of Odisha said, “The ‘Odyssey City Card’ has been launched with the objective of creating a common city payment mechanism which will facilitate cashless transactions for several citizen based services across Bhubaneswar. We are happy to note that ICICI Bank has partnered with the State Government to introduce the card that will offer significant convenience to the residents of the city. The card is a step towards leveraging technology by forging stronger partnerships which will help us in the creation of a digital payment system.”

Also added, Mr. Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, “ICICI Bank has always been at the forefront of introducing path breaking digital solutions which aims to offer simplicity and convenience to our customers. We are delighted to associate with Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited to bring forth the ‘Odyssey City Card’. This new proposition aims at offering unparalleled convenience to nearly 1 million residents of Bhubaneswar and is a significant step towards transforming it into a Smart City. This is a testament to our constant efforts at creating a less cash ecosystem across the country, thereby encouraging our customers to adopt to digital modes of making payments. We look forward to more such collaborations with the Odisha Government to co-create solutions that offer flexibility and convenience to our valued customers.”

The ‘Odyssey City Card’ has been launched ahead of the ‘2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup’ tournament that is scheduled in Bhubaneswar next month. The initiative aims at enhancing the experience of thousands of tourists who will visit the city to witness the sporting extravaganza by enabling them to book tickets for fleet transport networks along with retail purchases.

This new initiative will propel Bhubaneswar to join a list of elite international cities that offer a Common Payment Card platform to its residents and tourists for making seamless payments for an array of services within the city. Moreover, the ‘Odyssey City Card’ stands out in comparison to the international propositions, as it can not only be used to make payments within Bhubaneswar but also at retail stores with POS machines across the country as well as on e-commerce websites.

With the ‘Odyssey City Card’, residents will be able to undertake the following activities:
• Taxes & utility bills: Make payments towards BMC for water bills, property tax and trade license fees etc
• Retail & e-commerce transactions: Purchase goods from retail stores, pay for movie tickets, dine, shop and e-commerce websites across the country
• Parking fee: Make fee payments at Pay & Park locations managed by the BMC
• City-based transport: Users will soon be able to make cashless payments for bus rides across all transit networks under the Central Region Urban Transport Services (CRUT)

The card is currently available across the counter at 25 ‘My Odyssey Centres’ that have been set up by the BMC along with Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and the Public Health Engineer Organisation (PHEO) at an issuance fee of Rs.50 and is valid for 5 years. The card does not levy any annual or renewal charge. Customers can apply for the ‘Odyssey City Card’ by filling an application form comprising details like name, DOB, mobile no., address etc. On submitting the form, the customer receives an OTP on his/her registered mobile number. Post authentication of the OTP, the card is instantly issued to the customer.

In line with the Government’s efforts at encouraging the creation of a digital ecosystem, customers will soon be able to apply for the card, online. They will be able to do so by logging in to an integrated customer portal developed by the Bank. Once applied, customers will receive a unique reference number which can then be used to collect the card from the issuance counters. The customer portal will also enable users to avail facilities such as viewing card balance, account related details, statement of spends among others.

Users can recharge their card by either paying cash at the designated counters or digitally through the customer portal. Shortly, ICICI Bank along with the BMC will set up a distribution network of 300 additional counters across the city for facilitating the issuance and recharge of the ‘Odyssey City Card’.

All card users will be converted to full KYC customers within one year of issuance of the card which will further allow them to have a higher recharge limit of up-to Rs.1 lakh per month.