National Payments Corporation of India

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI; Hindi: भारतीय राष्ट्रीय भुगतान निगम) is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

National Payments Corporation of India
Native name
भारतीय राष्ट्रीय भुगतान निगम
Section 8 Company
IndustryPayments
Founded2008
HeadquartersMumbai, Maharashtra, India[1]
Key people
  • Biswamohan Mahapatra
    (Non-Exe Chairman)[2]
  • Dilip Asbe
    (MD & CEO)[3][4]
Products
Number of employees
1000+
Websitewww.npci.org.in

Organisation

Founded in 2008, the NPCI is a not-for-profit organisation registered under section 8 of the Companies Act 2013, established by Reserve Bank of India & IBA. The organisation is owned by a consortium of major banks,[5] and has been promoted by the country's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India. The NPCI was incorporated in December 2008 and the Certificate of Commencement of Business was issued in April 2009. The authorised capital has been pegged at ₹3 billion (US$42 million) and paid-up capital is ₹1 billion (US$14 million).

Initially, there were ten core promoter banks viz. State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank and HSBC. In 2016, the shareholding was diluted to include 13 additional public sector banks, 15 additional private sector banks, 1 additional foreign bank, 10 multi-state co-operative banks and 7 regional rural banks. The Board consists of Biswamohan Mahapatra as the Non Executive Chairman, Nominees from Reserve Bank of India and Nominees from ten core promoter banks.[6] Dilip Asbe is the current managing director and chief executive officer of the NPCI after A. P. Hota, who retired from the post on 10 August 2017.[7]

Services

The corporation's current and future service portfolio includes:

Aadhaar Enabled Payment System
Main article: Aadhaar

A network of Micro ATMs using Aadhaar authentication. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the transactions of Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) for the month of July 2019 have crossed the milestone number of 200 million. AePS is a bank-led model which allows basic interoperable banking transactions at PoS (MicroATM) through the Business correspondent of any bank by using Aadhaar authentication.[8]

Bharat Bill Payment System
Main article: Bharat Bill Payment System

The Bharat Bill Payment System is a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conceptualised system driven by the NPCI. It is a one-stop ecosystem for payment of all bills, providing an interoperable and accessible "Anytime Anywhere" bill payment service to all customers across India with certainty, reliability and safety. Bharat BillPay has multiple modes of payment and provides instant confirmation of payment via an SMS or receipt. It offers myriad bill collection categories like electricity, telecom, DTH, gas, water bills etc. through a single window. More categories may be added in the future, to include insurance premium, mutual funds, school fees, institution fees, credit cards, local taxes, invoice payments, etc. An effective mechanism for handling consumer complaints has also been put in place. Bharat BillPay transactions can be initiated through multiple payment channels like Internet, Internet Banking, Mobile, Mobile-Banking, POS (Point of Sale terminal), Mobile Wallets, MPOS (Mobile Point of Sale terminal), Kiosk, ATM, Bank Branch, Agents and Business Correspondents. Bharat BillPay supports multiple payment modes. This includes Cards (Credit, Debit and Prepaid), NEFT Internet Banking, UPI, Wallets, Aadhaar based Payments and Cash.[9]

BharatQR
Main article: BharatQR

A common QR code developed by NPCI in collaboration with American Express, Mastercard and Visa for ease of payments and interoperability.[10]

BHIM
Main article: BHIM

BHIM is a mobile app to act as Client software for the Unified Payments Interface.[11]

BHIM Aadhaar Pay
Main articles: Aadhaar and BHIM

BHIM Aadhaar pay is an Aadhaar based payments interface which allows real time payments to Merchants using Aadhaar number of Customer & authenticating them through their biometrics.[12]

Cheque Truncation System
Main article: Cheque Truncation System

CTS is based on a cheque truncation or online image-based cheque clearing system where cheque images and magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) data are captured at the collecting bank branch and transmitted electronically.[13]

Immediate Payment Service
Main article: Immediate Payment Service

Immediate Payment Service is a real time inter bank payment system.[14]

  • Mobile number & MMID: Send money to bank accounts mapped using mobile number.
  • Account number & IFSC: Send money to bank accounts.

National Automated Clearing House
Main article: National Automated Clearing House

A centralised clearing service that aims at providing interbank high volume, low value transactions that are repetitive and periodic in nature.[15]

National Common Mobility Card - Rupay Contactless
Main article: National Common Mobility Card

Rupay Contactless is a contactless payment technology that allows cardholders to wave their card in front of contactless payment terminals without the need to physically swipe or insert the card into a point-of-sale device.[16]

National Electronic Toll Collection
Main article: FASTag

FASTag is a device that employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly while the vehicle is in motion. FASTag (RFID Tag) is affixed on the windscreen of the vehicle and enables a customer to make the toll payments directly from the account which is linked to FASTag. The latest version 2.0 can also be used to buy fuel. IDFC First Bank has become the first one to get an approval from the RBI.[17] The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has declared that all lanes at all toll plazas on national highways across the country will be dedicated Fastag lanes from 1, December 2019.[18]

National Financial Switch
Main article: National Financial Switch

Network of shared automated teller machines in India.[19]

RuPay
Main article: RuPay

RuPay is a domestic card scheme of India. The card has Magnetic stripe (for Backward compatibility) and an EMV chip. The RuPay card is now accepted at all ATMs, Point-of-Sale terminals and most online merchants in the country. More than 300 cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in the country have also issued RuPay ATM cards.[20]

Unified Payments Interface
Main article: Unified Payments Interface

Unified Payments Interface is a real-time interbank payment system for sending or receiving money. It is integrated with more than 120 banks in India. Consumers can participate in P2P transfer as long as they both have an account in one of the registered banks. To initiate fund transfer, users have to use any UPI supporting Android or iOS app, link their bank accounts and generate BHIM UPI PIN. Funds can be transferred via the following methods:

  • Virtual Payment Address (VPA): Send or request money from/to bank account mapped using VPA.
  • Account number & IFSC: Send money to bank account.
  • QR code: Send money by scanning QR code with enclosed VPA or Account number & IFSC.
  • Mobile number: Send or request money from/to the bank account mapped using mobile number.
  • Aadhaar:Send money to the bank account mapped using Aadhaar number.

Once the fund transfer is initiated, money is debited from payer's bank account and deposited in the recipient's bank account in real-time. This system works 24x7, including weekends and bank holidays.[21]

*99# USSD

An USSD channel service for UPI mobile banking launched in November 2012. Only public sector telecom service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited MTNL are offering this service. It uses quick codes for transactions and doesn't require smartphone and access to internet. The interface is developed by National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP) to overcome the problem of poor internet connectivity in rural areas with 12 regional languages. This service is being currently offered by 51 banks. BHIM app also supports USSD features. Understanding the importance of mobile banking in financial inclusion in general and of *99# in particular, various regulatory/trade bodies came together to ensure on boarding of all TSPs on *99# (USSD 1.0). With the wider ecosystem (11 TSPs), *99# was launched by Prime minister Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014, as part of Pradhan Manti Jan Dhan Yojna.[22][23]

Recent awards and recognition
  • The NPCI was awarded Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Service Award for the year 2018 for BHIM UPI.[24]
  • The NPCI won Policy Change Agent of the Year 2018 by Economics Times.[25]

See also

References
  1. "National Payments Corporation of India". Npci.org.in. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  2. "Board of Directors". NPCI.
  3. "Management Team". NPCI.
  4. "Mobile money transfer fee cut to 10p". The Indian Express. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  5. "Watal Report, December 2016" (PDF). Ministry of Finance. Ministry of Finance. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  6. "B Sambamurthy appointed as NPCI interim Board chairman". Economic Times. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  7. "NPCI names Dilip Asbe as interim CEO, AP Hota retires". Business Standard News. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  8. "Aadhaar enabled payment system transactions cross 200 million in July 2019, confirms NPCI". Zee Business. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  9. Bharat Bill Payment System in India's Perspective. KPMG. 2018.
  10. "BHARAT QR CODE | Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India". www.meity.gov.in. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  11. "Everything you need to know about NCPI's BHIM app for Android and iOS". The Indian Express. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  12. www.ETtech.com. "Major Indian banks yet to enable Aadhaar payments on BHIM app - ETtech". ETtech.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  13. "What is Cheque Truncation System? CTS Benefits and Highlights of CTS Check. | Nelito | Blog". www.nelito.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  14. nitinbhatia121 (20 April 2015). "What is IMPS - Immediate Payment Service?". nitinbhatia.in. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  15. Jose, Tojo (22 October 2017). "What is National Automated Clearing House (NACH)?". Indian Economy. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  16. "One Nation One Card: All you need to know about the National Common Mobility Card launched by PM Modi". The Financial Express. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  17. Das, Mamuni. "Now, use Fastag 2.0 to pay for fuel on highways". @businessline. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  18. "Fastags to be mandatory at all toll plazas from December 2019". CarWale. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  19. "100 banks join National Financial Switch network as direct members". The Economic Times. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  20. "What is the difference between RuPay Card, VISA Card and MasterCard?". Jagranjosh.com. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  21. "How UPI Works? Unified Payments Interface Explained". Feedough. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  22. "*99# for Mobile Banking 2019 - Dial USSD *99# for Bank Balance Enquiry". Banking. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  23. "NUUP: Dial *99# and make easy payments without using internet by any featured phone through a new USSD based technology". The Financial Express. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  24. "NPCI wins Golden Peacock Award for BHIM UPI" (PDF).
  25. "ET Awards 2018 for Policy Change Agent of the Year: NPCI". The Economic Times. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
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