Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) – India’s own 24/7, 365days Money Transfer option

HSBC India, has become the first foreign bank in India to offer ‘Person to Merchant’ (P2M) cash management tool, tailored on IMPS to its corporate customers.

As readers are award, through IMPS customers can transfer funds from one bank account to another using mobile. The mobile is the delivery channel.

There are two options in IMPS ‘Person to Person’ (P2P) or ‘Person to Merchant’ (P2M).

Opting for the latter, HSBC India has now become the first foreign bank in the country to offer P2M service.

Banks are now slowly waking up to the benefits of IMPS as a Cash Management tool. IMPS is relevant across many industry sectors including FMCG, Insurance, Mutual Funds, Retail, E-Commerce, Entertainment and Education.

The IMPS mode enables consumers, investors, retailers, dealers and franchises to effect payments in a fast, convenient and cost effective manner, minimizing the risks involved associated with other existing modes such as cash and checks.

The major benefit for Corporates in IMPS is the real time information on credit via email and SMS alerts. Plus as IMPS works round the clock, 365days a year, funds can be transferred any time, without the limitations of branch banking.

IMPS is a payments platform that allows customers to use mobile technology as a channel for accessing their bank accounts and initiate interbank fund transfers in a fast, secure manner. Transfers can be 'Person to Person' (P2P) or 'Person to Merchant' (P2M). HSBC has launched the Person to Merchant Payments segment today and is the first foreign bank in India to do so.

To make a payment, the customer has to enter beneficiary’s Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) - (which will be provided by the beneficiary bank as a part of the setup process), the beneficiary’s mobile number, the amount he/she wishes to transfer and the payment reference like bill, invoice or transaction number. Bill, Invoice or transaction number is an additional feature in the P2M mode, as each payment has to be tagged to a bill, invoice or transaction number for future references.

A separate IT Application might be required for P2M IMPS transactions, as an additional field i.e. bill, invoice or transaction number will be part of the transaction.