The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched the platform for its Unified Payment Interface, it said in a release on Thursday. Soon, the 21 banks that are currently on board will launch their mobile applications on the Google Play Store.
The United Payment Interface, or UPI, is a system that allows for instantaneous transfer of money using what NPCI, the developer, calls a virtual payment address. In April this year, when the system was unveiled at the Reserve Bank of India by Governor Raghuram Rajan, it had been announced that 36 banks had signed up to be part of UPI.
However, as of now, only 21 are ready to go live. Here’s the list of banks that are expected to launch their mobile applications by the end of the week:
Andhra Bank
Axis Bank
Bank of Maharashtra
Bhartiya Mahila Bank
Canara Bank
Catholic Syrian Bank
DCB Bank
Federal Bank
ICICI Bank
TJSB Sahakari Bank
Oriental Bank of Commerce
Karnataka Bank
UCO Bank
Union Bank of India
United Bank of India
Punjab National Bank
South Indian Bank
Vijaya Bank
YES Bank
How It Works
The first thing you’ll need is a smartphone. The next step is to download the mobile application.
You do not necessarily have to use the mobile application of the bank where you have an account. For example, if you have an Axis Bank account, you could download a Union Bank of India mobile application if you like the features better.
Once you do, you link your bank account (it must be in one of the 21 banks currently on board) to the mobile application and create a unique identification or a virtual payment address. This identification could even be your mobile phone number.
You will also have to create an “m-pin”, a security code, that will authenticate a transfer of funds.
The current daily limit for money transfers on the application has been set at Rs 1 lakh, but it could be set higher later.
Read the full BloombergQuint report here.
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