New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS): In a bid to promote digital transactions, the Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Thursday launched its much awaited payment aggregator system 'IRCTC iPay'.

The exclusive digital payment gateway will provide better digital experience and improved online digital payment convenience to rail passengers availing online travel-related services through the website, IRCTC said in a statement.

"With the launch of IRCTC iPay, the passengers will not need any third-party platforms. IRCTC iPay provides payment options like credit card, debit card, unified payment interface, international card," it said.

The option of IRCTC prepaid card-cum-wallet and auto debit shall also be available soon.

The IRCTC, which handles catering, tourism, and online ticketing operations of the Indian national transporter said, under this new arrangement, "IRCTC will have full control of the payment system because of its direct relationship with acquiring banks, card networks and other partners".

"This will help reduce the gap between IRCTC and banks which will eventually lead to substantial reduction in payment failures.

"Moreover, in case an online transaction is unsuccessful or some other error occurs, IRCTC can directly get in touch with the bank instead of relying on an intermediate source which usually delays the process," the statement said.

IRCTC said iPay promises to be passenger friendly, easy to use, reliable and faster.