As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India Initiative which is also part of his dream on digital innovations in making our nation move ahead of others, he launched the much awaited BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) on December 30, 2016 and since that time this revolutionary app has only seen its rise till now. As part of the October 2018 data available , the total value transacted via UPI in September 2018 amounts to a whopping Rs. 59,835.36 Crores. The total number of transactions done across all BHIM UPI apps is 40 crores for that month. In October 2018, the total transacted value was Rs. 74,978.27 Crores in over 48 crore transactions.
BHIM – INITIAL STAGES
PM Narendra Modi launched this most talked Banking transaction Mobile app in December 2016 and the people of India has really accepted it with both hands with the number of transactions data shows till now. BHIM UPI App is developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) which also handles the even most coveted India’s very own card payment schemed RuPay which we have already talked about (in Tamil) here: RuPay ரூபே இந்திய கட்டண அட்டை.
HOW TO REGISTER ON BHIM
Prerequisites: You need a bank account with a mobile number registered with it, and also your debit card details for initial signup.
- Download and Install BHIM app from Google Play store/Apple App Store. Alternately, you may install the UPI app released by your bank.
- Signup using the mobile number registered with your bank account.
- Proceed through the registration process with entering debit card and expiry date.
- Initially an SMS will be sent from your mobile number for verification, security reasons.
- Once done, you can set your one time 4 digit or 6 digit UPI Pin which you can use later for fund transfer.
That is it, now you are registered with BHIM UPI for all your fund transfer/payments needs. You will be given an UPI id like yourmobilenumber@bankname or yourname@upi or desiredname@bankname/upi (which looks just similar like an email ID we use). You can start using BHIM in your desire language like Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, etc.
BHIM APP BENEFITS
- Ease of use! Transfer funds / make payments in a jiffy.
- No need to remember the cumbersome options like IFSC, MMID, Bank branch, which may otherwise result in wrong transfer of funds, etc.
- No need to share important bank details and personal details.
- Just one app for all transfer, payments and bank needs.
- 100% secure. No need to worry about misuse.
- Apart from transferring funds, you can also use BHIM App for bill pay, recharge, pay water bills, gas bills, electricity bill, using the Bharat Billpay which is also part of PM Modi’s dream of getting India digital and truly a cashless economy.
- Now there is a maximum transaction limit of Rs. 20,000 is there for security reasons which will also be removed soon once it reaches its full potential.
- Merchants can easily generate QR Code and accept payments using that code which ensures that their money is credited directly into their bank account immediately rather than wait for couple of days when it comes to even card payments.
- Currently transferring of funds between two BHIM UPI accounts is completely free unlike NEFT, IMPS transfers for which there is a nominal charges which banks levy.
- BHIM also supports sending money using the regular NEFT, IMPS mode in case the receiver does not have a UPI ID for transfer.
- Don’t have a smartphone? You can also transact on BHIM app on a feature phone without internet using typing *99# in your registered mobile phone which makes it fully inclusive banking service. For more information, read about NUUP (National Unified USSD Platform) Services.
- Adding beneficiary and transferring funds to someone using Account Number and IFSC code is extremely fast using BHIM app. Whereas in NEFT/RTGS transfer, beneficiary addition alone takes a minimum of 3 hours depending upon the bank. Also, in NEFT, the transactions are executed every hour in batches, which means your transaction will be queued till the next NEFT settlement time slot. Whereas using BHIM/UPI, money transfer is instant.
SECURITY
BHIM app is completely secure and comes with 3 levels of authentication requirements like device ID and mobile number. Hence it works only if you’re using the (bank) registered mobile number on your device. It is far better the security features of any banking services currently available in India.
BHIM’S 3-factor authentication
- Verification of mobile number and phone handset.
- Password for opening BHIM app on your mobile.
- UPI PIN for making transactions from BHIM app.
BHIM REWARDS SCHEME
During the initial stages of BHIM, Government of India has even announced a reward scheme where the users of UPI BHIM would be rewarded with payment for each and every transfer that you make. It has been fully utilized by most citizens of India and the requisite rewards has been transferred to the initial users which also made BHIM popular among the youths who had been utilizing it to its full potential.
Currently BHIM UPI has seen huge success where the number of transactions done has been growing each and everyday. It has been adapted by various public and private sector banks as well as many wallet startups which have integrated BHIM UPI into their wallet service and hence it is truly becoming a one point of source for all our money transfer needs rather than going for the more conventional routes like NEFT, IMPS, and a more redundant option called writing cheques. This is the dream that our beloved PM Narendra Modi has dreamt of and we are moving towards that dream in a rather rapid pace and soon India will be a true digital giant at least on the banking front where almost 99% of transactions will be done via digital mode which is more faster, transparent and more secure.
After seeing its success, post the launch by our PM Modi and the way it has grown in the past couple of years, many countries have sent shown desire to implement similar banking option in their respective country, as it is first of a kind option which not many international banks have done before, just send and receive money with option like an email.
Truly, just like the success of RuPay cards which made the international payment services like MasterCard complain to the US government on their revenue loss, BHIM/UPI also will ensure all revenue generated stays within our country and hence it directly benefits the nation in its growth which is the sole reason Prime Minister is very keen on launching such digital services in banking sector as well as across various other sectors. BHIM/UPI is indeed a revolutionary product/service which is here to stay and make our banking needs more simpler and more secure and fun.
(Written by @knowdavis)