NPCI launches Unified Payments Interface

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched “Unified Payments Interface (UPI)” to revolutionise mobile payment system in the country.
It was launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan. 29 banks have agreed to join the platform.
UPI seeks to provide uniform mobile payment system by leveraging digital trends such as increasing smart phone adoption and deeper penetration of mobile data.
Key features of UPI

• The UPI is for mobile based payment method that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any bank) of a participating bank.
• It merges several banking features, seamless fund routing and merchant payments into one hood. Thus, it will be a single app for accessing different bank accounts.
• It facilitates ‘virtual address’ as a single payment identifier for sending and collecting money and works on single click 2 factor authentication.
• The single identifier will eliminate the need to exchange sensitive information such as bank account numbers during a financial transaction.
• It also provides an option for scheduling push and pull transactions for various purposes like sharing bills among peers.
• UIP is an advanced version of NPCI’s Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) which is a 24X7 funds transfer service. It provides round the clock availability and faster checkout.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016