Unified Payments Interface introduced by banks

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was introduced on 25 August 2016 by four banks, namely Axis Bank, Union Bank of India, Federal Bank and Bank of Maharashtra. The app will allow customers to make payments via digital means.

The app went live for these banks after National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) issued letters to them asking them to make the apps available on Google Play Store. Apart from this, the UPI-enabled apps will be available for other 19-banks in next 2-3 working days.

Initially, the facility, which is available on Google Play Store, will be available for bank customers with Android smartphones. Versions for Apple’s iOS operating system will be launched in next six months.

UPI, a product of NPCI, will help move India towards a cashless economy. It will allow account holders across banks to send and receive money from their smartphones using virtual payments address without entering bank account details.

The interface is a brainchild of RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. The pilot launch was on 11 April 2016 by Dr. Raghuram G Rajan, RBI Governor.

Unified Payments Interface

• It will allow customer to have multiple virtual address for accounts in various banks.

• UPI is a set of standard Application Programming Interface (APIs).

• The new payments interface will also provide an option for scheduling push and pull transactions, such as sharing bills among peers.

• It is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella organisation for all retail payments system in India.

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