Current Affairs PDF

Unified Payments Interface

AffairsCloud YouTube Channel - Click Here

AffairsCloud APP Click Here

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system is been developed for all retail payments in the country. It has been developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to make the transfer of money easy and simple. It was launched on 11th April 2016.
At the start, ten major banks — SBI, Canara Bank, BOI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, HSBC, and Citi Bank integrated the interface with their mobile apps.

UPI

At present, the most transactions are done using NEFT, RTGS or IMPS system in the country. There are a variety of things need to be fulfilled while doing transactions through NEFT and RTGS like going to bank, form filling, giving various details like account number, IFSC code, etc. IMPS is somewhat better than NEFT and RTGS for transactions. Now a new system UPI has been launched by RBI which is developed by NPCI for hassle free transactions.

How can you use the new UPI system:

  • The first thing that you need to know to use the new UPI system is – is your bank is linked to the UPI platform?
  • Next, you should have a smartphone to use the app of your bank. The app should also be upgraded to provide the service.
  • Next, you have to fill in the details like date of birth, registered email address and mobile phone number with the bank, etc.
  • After filling the form, you will get the virtual ID.
  • After the creation of this ID, the app can be used to perform the transactions.
  • You will also be provided a mobile personal identification number (MPIN), which will be a standardised 4- or 6-digit number similar to an ATM PIN.
  • Now perform the steps required to do the transfers using UPI without the use of alpha-numeric Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) and bank account numbers each time.

Some important facts:

  • Both the sender and the receiver should have enabled UPI platform for the transaction to take place.
  • You need not have different bank apps for different bank accounts.
  • All UPI-enabled banks will allow their apps to be consolidated.
  • So, through the use of one app, one can perform all payment transactions.
  • The limit on transaction through UPI system is Rs 1 lakh.
  • Charges can be applied depending on the amount of money transferred.
  • The service is available 24×7.
  • One need not go to the bank for NEFT or RTGS, transaction can be initiated anywhere with a few clicks.
  • Also no need to carry the debit or credit cards which are also sometimes lead to security problems.
  • Merchant will not be able to track even the account number.
  • UPI system will not at all include the wallets.
  • The transaction will be shown as IMPS Bank transfer in the bank account statement.

Available platforms: The UPI is available in Android, IOS and windows.

Recent news: 

  • A pilot demonstration of the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) united payments interface (UPI) QR-based payments has begun at the Singapore FinTech Festival 2019. With this the BHIM UPI has gone international.
  • 1 billion transactions crossed: National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on November 1, 2019  said the number of transactions of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has crossed the landmark figure of 1 billion in October.  The total transactions of UPI jumped to 1.15 billion in October 2019.

UPI 2.0:

NPCI, the umbrella organisation for all retail payments in India, launched the updated unified payments interface (UPI) 2.0 on August 16, 2019.