NATIONAL PAYMENTS CORPORATION OF INDIA

NATIONAL PAYMENTS CORPORATION OF INDIA

NATIONAL PAYMENTS CORPORATION OF INDIA

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an Umbrella Organisation for all operating Retail Payments and Settlement Systems in India.

It was set up with the guidance and support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Bank Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a Robust Payment and Settlement Infrastructure in India.

The NPCI is a not-for-profit organisation registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013. The organisation is owned by a consortium of major banks 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 RS. 3 billion (US$43 million) and paid-up capital is RS. 1 billion (US$14 million).

Presently, The ten core promoter banks are State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citi Bank and HSBC.

The Board consists of Mr. Biswamohan Mahapatra as the Non-Executive Chairman, Nominees from Reserve Bank of India and Nominees from ten core promoter banks. Dilip Asbe is the current Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NPCI.

VISION OF NPCI

“To Be The Best Payments Network Globally”

MISSION OF NPCI
“To Touch Every Indian With One Or Other Payments Services”

PRODUCT SERVICES
1. Unified Payments Interface

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application or any participating bank, merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.

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 “Peer to Peer” 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:

1. Virtual Payment Address (VPA): Send or request money from/to bank account mapped using VPA.
2. Account number & IFSC: Send money to bank account.
3. QR Code: Send money by scanning QR code with enclosed VPA or Account number & IFSC.

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.

2. Rupay Contactless
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. 

Rupay Contactless offers the unique proposition of One Card for all Payments. This card can be used for transit payments (Bus, Metro, and Cab, etc.), toll, parking, small value offline retail payments as well as a normal day to day retail payments.

3. RuPay

RuPay is a domestic card scheme of India. The card has Magnetic stripe 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.

“RuPay”, the word itself has a sense of nationality in it. “RuPay” is the coinage of two terms Rupee and Payment. The RuPay Visual Identity is a modern and dynamic unit.

4. Bharat Interface for Money

Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM)  is a mobile app that lets you make simple, easy and quick payment transactions using Client software for the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). You can make instant bank-to-bank payments and Pay and collect money using just Mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (UPI ID).

5. Immediate Payment Service

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) provides robust & real-time fund transfer which offers an instant, 24X7, interbank electronic fund transfer service that could be accessed on multiple channels like Mobile, Internet, ATM, SMS, Branch and USSD(*99#).

IMPS is an emphatic service which allows transferring of funds instantly within banks across India which is not only safe but also economical. Currently, on IMPS, 243 members are live which includes banks & PPIs.

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

6. Bharat BillPay

Bharat BillPay (BBP) - The One-stop destination for Bill Payment. 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.

7. *99# or USSD

*99#, a USSD based mobile banking service of NPCI was initially launched in November 2012. The service had limited reach and only two TSPs were offering this service i.e. MTNL & BSNL. *99# was dedicated to the nation by Hon’ble Prime minister on 28th August 2014, as part of Pradhan Manti Jan Dhan Yojna.

*99# service has been launched to take the banking services to every common man across the country. Banking customers can avail this service by dialing *99#, a “Common number across all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs)” on their mobile phone and transact through an interactive menu displayed on the mobile screen. 

Key services offered under *99# service include, Sending and Receiving interbank account to account funds, balance enquiry, setting/changing UPI PIN besides host of other services. *99# service is currently offered by 41 leading banks & all GSM service providers and can be accessed in 13 different languages including Hindi & English.

8. Cheque Truncation System

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.

9. National Financial Switch

National Financial Switch (NFS) has introduced the sub-membership model which enables smaller, regional banks including RRBs and local co-operative banks to participate in the ATM network. NFS has established a strong and sustainable operational model with in-house capabilities and today can be compared at par with other major and well-established switch networks. The operational functions and services are at par with most of the global ATM networks.

10. Aadhaar Enabled Payment System

Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) is a bank led model which allows online interoperable financial inclusion transaction at PoS (MicroATM) through the Business correspondent of any bank using the Aadhaar authentication.

Aadhaar Enabled Payment System to empower a bank customer to use Aadhaar as his/her identity to access his/ her respective Aadhaar enabled bank account and perform basic banking transactions like cash deposit, cash withdrawal, Intrabank or interbank fund transfer, balance enquiry and obtain a mini statement through a Business Correspondent.

11. BharatQR

BharatQR (BQR) is Person to Merchant (P2M) Mobile payment solution. A common QR code developed by NPCI in collaboration with Mastercard and Visa for ease of payments and interoperability.

12. BHIM Aadhaar

BHIM Aadhaar Pay enables Merchants to receive digital payments from customers over the counter through Aadhaar Authentication. It allows for any Merchant associated with any acquiring bank live on BHIM Aadhaar Pay, to accept payment from customer of any bank by authenticating customer’s biometrics.

13. National Electronic Toll Collection

National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program to meet the electronic tolling requirements of the Indian market. It offers an interoperable nationwide toll payment solution including clearing house services for settlement and dispute management. 

Interoperability, as it applies to National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) system, encompasses a common set of processes, business rules and technical specifications which enable a customer to use their FASTag as payment mode on any of the toll plazas irrespective of who has acquired the toll plaza.

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. FASTag offers the convenience of cashless payment along with benefits like - savings on fuel and time as the customer does not has to stop at the toll plaza.

14. National Automated Clearing House

National Automated Clearing House (NACH) is a centralised system, launched with an aim to consolidate multiple ECS systems running across the country and provides a framework for the harmonization of standard & practices and removes local barriers/inhibitors. 

NACH system will provide a national footprint and is expected to cover the entire core banking enabled bank branches spread across the geography of the country irrespective of the location of the bank branch.

With these products the aim is to transform India into a ‘less-cash’ society by touching every Indian with one or other payment services. With each passing year we are moving towards our vision to be the best payments network globally.

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Sources: https://www.npci.org.in