Zero 2 Hundred-NPCIs Instant Payment Service trajectory in India

          A major milestone in India’s eTransactions journey was crossed in July 2015 with the total number of banks at 100 on NPCIs IMPS channel.

          Yes, as on date 100 banks are part of this 100% ‘Made In India’, eTransactions mode.

          The benefits of IMPS are being enjoyed by a large populace spread across the nook and corner of our country.

          The chief advantage of IMPS is that transactions can happen around the clock, irrespective of holidays, with nil dependence on bank staff.

          The initial transactions will be a bit strange, as the funds move at the speed of light at any point of time.

          There are number of channels through which the bank customers can choose to transact through the IMPS mode.

          There are a number of products which can be tailored by Finance Industry participants to enhance the customer experience.

          The technology is robust enough to support extremely high volumes at all times.

          Banks and PPIs are constantly innovating to expand the user base.

          Only a fraction of the target populace has been touched by IMPS and in the coming years, IMPS will embrace new group of people into its fold.

         

Indusind Bank ventures into Safe eTransactions-IMPS Branch Channel

             Indusind Bank has become the first bank in our country to offer IMPS transactions through the Bank branch channel.

            IMPS which debuted four years bank was primarily designed for alternate channels mode i.e customers initiate the transactions on their own, without intervention by bank staff.

            As the main advantage of IMPS is 24*7, 365 days delivery, the volumes were going up. Till date, no Indian bank was offering IMPS through the bank branch channel.

            Now, Indusind Bank has started to offer this facility at its branches. Going ahead, other banks too will offer IMPS at their branch.

            The first mover’s advantage will surely go to Indusind Bank.

            Bank staff has to extra vigilant while keying the beneficiary details. IMPS is instant and the RECALL option is simply not feasible.

Boom time for NPCIs’-IMPS – 02 Oct 2014 & 03 Oct 14 NEFT/RTGS closed

          

  The IMPS (Instant Payment Service) funds transfer service works 24*7,365days a year, with no respect to holidays.

            The end-to-end transaction is fully automated, with minimal human intervention required.

            Customers of 67 banks in India can transfer instantly any time of day or night through the IMPS mode

            In addition to the 67 banks, 3 cooperative banks are on IMPS network

            The conventional electronic transfer channels i.e NEFT/RTGS/Clearing Grid are closed on 02 Oct 2014 & 03 Oct 14. Physical bank branches thought India are closed.

            Net banking will function, however as NEFT/RTGS are closed, the funds transfer through this mode will not work.

            The only electronic funds transfer which will work on 02 Oct 2014 & 03 Oct 14 is IMPS. Nothing more, Nothing less.  

            Be 100% sure of the beneficiaries’ bank account number, IFS Code before initiating the IMPS transaction. There is a very remote chance of funds callback

Gayatri Co-operative Urban Bank (Karimnagar) joins IMPS

      

      The Gayatri Cooperative Urban Bank with its Head Office in Jagtial-Karimanagar has joined the IMPS (Instant Payment Channel)  ePayments channel.

            The bank has branches at "Jammikunta", "Korutla", "Vemulawada" & Karimnagar", "Mancherial" "Nizamabad" and "Metpally"

            The Bank also provides ATM services and Debit Card services through RuPay Debit Card.

            Vemulwada is best known for  Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy Temple complex.

Jammikunta name is derived from the word "Dammekunte", a combination of Sanskrit and kannada word.  "Damme"(Sanskrit word) means Lotus and "kunte" (Kannada word) means pond. Hence the very name of the village meaning is Lotus Pond.

Jagtial town is famous for its fort. The fort was constructed with the help of two French Engineers, namely Mr.Jack & Mr.Tal, so the name of the town  at that time was JACKTAL and gradually it became Jagtial and in Telugu language they write it Jagityala.

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank live on IMPS using Account No and IFS Code

                Way back in January 2012, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank had gone live on IMPS, with a public launch. 

                On 17/08/2012, in another customer-friendly initiative, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank has launched another IMPS sub-product i.e IMPS using Account No and IFS Code.

                With this feature, now TMB customers can receive funds via IMPS without the sender not knowing the MMID also.

                      Mr A.K. Jagannathan, Ex-Managing Director had a vision to change the Bank Logo. The new ‘logo’, was unveiled on May 3 2012, at the Banks AGM. Mr A.K. Jagannathan stepped down office on May 5 2012.

               Tamilnad Mercantile Bank is part of the old generation private sector Bank network with its Headquarters in  Tuticorin, Tamilnadu.

                One more step in Safe ePayments. Cheers TMB.

JAIIB/CAIIB – Pay your Exam fees online now

                Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (IIBF), the professional body of banks, financial institutions, has migrated majority of its financial transactions to the ePayments mode.    

The institute’s major share of financial transactions is the payments of membership fees and the examination fees.

                Over the years, the preferred payment mode was the Demand Drafts. However, as finance bodies started to adopt ePayments, IIBF too entered the domain of ePayments.

                Today, when I logged on to the IIBF website, the following message warmed my heart.

Quote

Register for Ordinary Membership Online.

No physical form with Demand Draft/Pay Order will be accepted by the Institute from 18th June 2012.

Unquote

The JAIIB/CAIIB examination fees too, can be paid online i.e Credit Card/Debit Card/Net Banking.

As of now, the IMPS mode has not yet been activated. Well, in future, IMPS too will be an additional payment mode.

Go ahead, remit your JAIIB/CAIIB fees online.

                 

IMPS - (India's Magical Payment System )Member Banks reaches the 50 mark

The IMPS enabled member bank list has reached 50, with Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank joining IMPS on 23-Jul-12.

July 12 had been a particularly busy period for IMPS network, with 6 Banks becoming part of the IMPS family.

The following Banks have joined IMPS in July 12.

• Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank on 23-Jul-12
• Standard Chartered Bank on 22-Jul-12
• ING Vysya Bank on 21-Jul-12
• Karnataka Bank on 20-Jul-12
• Janata Sahakari Bank, Pune on 12-Jul-12
• United Bank of India on 4-Jul-12

All the above banks have are still in the soft launch stage. Once the IT Applications are stabilized, and Operations Team familiar with the in and out of the IMPS flow, the respective Bank Customers will be invited to avail the IMPS benefits.

Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd., Pune offers IMPS.

Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd., Pune established on 18th October 1949, with over 37 branches spread in the 7 districts in and around Pune has entered the IMPS network.

Late Moropant Pingale, an RSS Pracharak was the main inspiration in the establishment of the Bank. To remember his memories, the Bank has instituted an award in his name. The award is given to a Organization engaged in Social work.

With the beauty of IMPS, JBS-Pune customers can now receive and send funds instantly to all the 46 Banks customers on the IMPS network. This dramatically increases the reach of the JBS customers.

United Bank of India – 'The Tea Bank of India', enter the world of IMPS

In August 2011, United Bank of India, launched its mobile banking application. This was the forerunner for launching IMPS for it's customers.

In July 2012, United Bank of India formally launched the IMPS facility for its customers.

UBI is popularly known as 'Tea Bank of India', as it has an age old association with the Indian Tea Industry. UBI is the largest lender to the Indian Tea Industry.

Though United Bank of India, came into existence in 1950, its original roots go back to 1914. United Bank of India, is an amalgamation of 4 bankz viz. Comilla Banking Corporation Ltd. (1914), Bengal Central Bank Ltd. (1918), Comilla Union Bank Ltd. (1922) and Hooghly Bank Ltd. (1932) (which were established in the years indicated in brackets after the names).

UBI is the Lead Bank in 30 districts of West Bengal, Assam, Manipur and Tripura. It also dons the mantle of Convener of the State Level Bankers' Committees (SLBC) for the States of West Bengal and Tripura.

UBI concentrated in spreading the banking services more particularly in Eastern and North-Eastern India. UBI has sponsored 4 Regional Rural Banks (RRB) one each in West Bengal, Assam, Manipur and Tripura. These four RRBs together have over 1000 branches.

UBI has spread the banking services to the people living in the not easily accessible areas of the Sunderbans in West Bengal, UBI had established two floating mobile branches on motor launches which moved from island to island on different days of the week. The floating mobile branches were discontinued with the opening of full-fledged branches at the centers which were being served by the floating mobile branches.

On the way, UNI in 1973 UBI acquired Hindusthan Mercantile Bank and in 1976 UBI acquired Narang Bank of India.

With the introduction of IMPS, the staff of Tea Estates will be the major beneficiaries, as they can now quickly,safely remit/receive money. 

Be Careful – RTGS/NEFT closed for a long weekend.

RTGS/NEFT will be closed on 02/07/2012, as on July 2^nd RBI is closed due to its Annual Closing of Accounts.

July 1^st, 2012 is a Sunday, so RTGS/NEFT will be closed continuously for 2days. Being the beginning of the month, there will be huge volumes on 3^rd July. It is advisable to plan any transfer via RTGS/NEFT carefully, for the next week or so.

Transactions that settle on T+0 basis cannot be put through on July 2, but markets participants may be able to do transactions that settle other than on T+0 basis.

Well, IMPS(Interbank Mobile Payment Service) will be open and Bank customers will be able to transfer funds via the IMPS mode. Hm, the surge in volumes will depend on the publicity around IMPS.

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.

IMPS – March 2012 Volumes

It was nice to see the jump in IMPS (Interbank Mobile Payment Service) volumes for March 2012, as compared to February 2012.

The Customers as well as the respective IMPS member banks seem to slowly getting a grip on the process flow.

All the member banks have great information about the IMPS process flow on their websites.

Such information increases the confidence levels of the customers to try out IMPS for their ePayments.

During April 1^st week, as there quite a few Bank Holidays, customers must have been greatly benefited by IMPS.

A focused marketing approach by the member banks, will increase the recall levels of IMPS, and nudge them towards IMPS.

NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) has made a beginning by conceptualizing the IMPS Video and displaying on its website.

6 benefits of a focused marketing campaign:

1. Increase in customer awareness.
2. Increase in brand recall.
3. Encourage customers to enquire with their respective Banks about the IMPS facility.
4. Encourage customers to shift part of their traditional Payments to IMPS.
5. Effective ROI for Banks for their investment in the IMPS infrastructure.
6. Increase in disputed transactions, which will enable NPCI and the Banks to fine-tune the process flow.

In the near future, NPCI might launch a marketing campaign for IMPS.

IMPS remittance service extended to No Frills Account Holders

New and innovative features are being added to the IMPS Product by NPCI. The latest feature, is that No Frills account holders are now interoperable with IMPS

No Frills accounts as the name suggests are Bank accounts with minimal features. As the accounts are opened with the bare minimum documentation, the sum of credit transactions in a financial year should not exceed Rs. one lakh in "No Frills Accounts". Once the limit is crossed, the customers have to take steps to submit the documentation for a full KYC, so that the no-frills account can be converted into a normal account.

To encourage Banks to open more 'No Frills Accounts', and also to extend the reach of IMPS, NPCI has taken steps to enable IMPS facility to 'No frills accounts', too.

Union Bank of India was the first bank to link IMPS to 'No Frills accounts'.

Yes, MMID is compulsory even for No Frills accounts', to avail the IMPS facility. The agents of Corporate Business Correspondent I.e FINO, will facilitate the process of obtaining MMID by account holders.

Top 5 Benefits of this facility:

1. Customers need not opt for mobile banking services.
2. The funds transfer is instant, as the IMPS works 24*7, 365 days a year.
3. No additional infrastructure is required by the Banks nor the account holders.
4. Reach or last mile connectivity issues are resolved, as Mobiles have penetrated almost every nook and corner of the country.
5. The additional spinoff will be for the mobile companies, as the customer's stickiness to their company will increase. This is because customer's having a MMID will not prefer to shift their loyalties elsewhere.

IMPS-Merchant Payment Service pilot launch with State Bank of India

The merchant payment services of IMPS, are slowly gaining visibility in the Indian Payment Industry.

On 30/01/2012, State Bank of India, launched it's pilot project on IMPS. State Bank of India, was one of the Banks which were part of the initial launch of IMPS in November 2010. In 2012, it is also a Pilot Bank of merchant payment services of the IMPS.

Merchant payment services of IMPS offer

1. customer to merchant
2. merchant to merchant
3. merchant to customer

State Bank of India, offers a wide variety of Electronic Payment Options. The full list of SBI ePayments Offerings can be viewed at SBI ePay

The latest innovative addition to SBI customer service, is the facility of availability of knowing your Account Balances and Transaction details over phone round-the-clock. Information on deposits & loan schemes and services also available. Call 1800112211 (tollfree from BSNL/MTNL)

Market for Indian Mobile Payment Segment - US$350 billion by 2015 - Is your Bank ready to be part of it?

The Interbank Mobile Payment Service(IMPS) launched by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in June 2010, received a boost as Citibank has introduced a new Cash Management Solution, around it.

The solution has been branded as Citi Cash-to-Mobile and it was launched last week, with a pilot in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh with the retailer's of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited (HCCB), the bottling operation of the Coca-Cola Company in India, being the privileged lot.

The aim of this product is to completely automate the Receivables of a corporate, thereby freeing the company resources to concentrate on other activities.

Aimed at Corporate and Institutional clients, this market first solution empowers corporate customers to receive funds from retailers or end customers instantly via mobile.

As a Safe ePayments motivator, this new development is very exciting and the publicity surrounding this launch will now encourage more and more banking consumers, to experience the magic of IMPS.

Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) the  seven digit random number issued by the bank upon registration for IMPS is a necessity for Citi Cash-to-Mobile to succeed.

The Process flow is as under:

01) The corporate opens a Banking Account with Citi and a MMID is issued to it.

02) The MMID is communicated to it’s distributions channel partners.

03) The distribution channel partners MMID’s are obtained and updated in the Bank’s as well as the Corporate’s  Enterprise Resource Planning solution

04) On the payment due date, a SMS is flashed by the corporate, reminding it’s channel partners on the bill amount due.

05) The channel partners transfer the funds via IMPS module.

06) As the channel partners MMID is stored on the  Enterprise Resource Planning solution, the reconciliation is done, and the MIS reports forwarded to all concerned.

06) As IMPS works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the reconciliation can be done hourly, and the channel distributors be encouraged to remit money any time of the day or night.

07) The common excuse of ‘bank is closed’, will not be a show-stopper for Bill Payments.

Short term impact: -

a) 30 + Banks are on IMPS, but the remaining Banks have to enter the IMPS circuit, as otherwise the corporates might encourage their channel partners to move to banks offering IMPS.

b) Banks have to offer the complete suite of mobile banking services to enable its customers to obtain the full benefits of IMPS.

c) The CASA average balances at the Sending Bank and Receiving Bank, will increase as the Sender’s have to maintain adequate balance to transfer and the Receiver balance will go up correspondingly.

d) Banks too have to move to a 24*7 Core Banking Solution (CBS), as now funds can move in, move out 24*7.

e) The retail customers once are familiar with IMPS, will be encouraged to try out this  channel for other payments/receivables too. This will provide the  much needed jump for IMPS.

Security:

01) The Amount Limits are as under: -

With end to end encryption: A daily cap of Rs. 50,000 per customer per day for both, fund transfer and transactions involving purchase of goods and services

Without end to end encryption: Transactions up to Rs. 5,000 can be facilitated ( RBI Circular Dated May 4, 2011  2011  RBI/2010 RBI/2010--11/511  11/511 DPSS.CO.No.2502  DPSS.CO.No.2502 /02.23.02/  /02.23.02/ 2010 2010--11)

02) The funds cannot be transferred without a MMID.And, a MMID is attached to a Bank Account. Hence the chance of fraud is low.

Thanks to Citi, for being the first bank to introduce a Solution around IMPS. Now, there is no stopping for IMPS.

The possibilities are endless. Which will the next Bank to tap IMPS innovatively?

Let me end today’s Post with a quote : -

"It's easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date."

— Roger von Oech

06/12/2011 RTGS/NEFT Closed. Why don't you try IMPS?

By 2012 in India, Send money from ATM/Internet Banking to mobile

To promote Safe ePayments in our country, NPCI(National Payments of India), is in the process of rolling out a new product.

This new product will be an extension of IMPS(Interbank Mobile Payment Service).

IMPS was launched in June 2010, and currently 30 Banks offer this service.

However, there has no spectacular growth of transactions in the IMPS Grid. On an average 12,000 transactions are being executed on the IMPS platform.

Hence, to popularise the IMPS, NPCI had requested RBI to permit transmitting of money from ATM/NET Banking  to mobile i.e MMID

MMID is a 7 digit number, to be issued by the bank to the customer upon registration

A beneficiary should have a MMID in order to receive the money to his mobile.

The MMID is in turn linked to a Bank Account.

The main advantage of IMPS is that it is instant and works 24 X 7, including holidays.

A couple of articles on this initiative can be viewed@ http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-money-banking/article2616030.ece

http://banking-news-update.blogspot.com/2011/11/now-send-money-from-atm-to-mobile.html

However as on 13/11/2011, this new NPCI offering is not yet updated on the NPCI website.

I am sure, there will be adequate security authentications, to ensure that there is no scope for fraudulent transactions.

Bank of Baroda - IMPS bandwagon

Bank of Baroda - IMPS bandwagon

Bank of Baroda is the latest Bank to be part of the IMPS bandwagon.

Bank of Baroda, is the 30th Bank to join the IMPS

Bank of Baroda has joined the Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) enabling their customers to transfer funds to the customers of 29 other banks who are already providing this service.

The tag line of Bank of Baroda is ‘Bank of Baroda - India's International Bank’

Bank of Baroda, has a history of 100+ years behind it, and its founder was Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad,

One interesting titbit, which the BOB’s website, mentions is ‘The Roll of Honor’.  This Roll of Honor mentions amongst others,  Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad, Sampatrao Gaekwad, Ralph Whitenack, Vithaldas Thakersey, Tulsidas Kilachand and NM Chokshi.

Bank of Baroda, was nationalised in the first bank nationalisation, i.e on 19 July 1969, by the government of India, along with 13 other major banks.

Bank of Baroda, over the years, acquired Banks, rescued Banks. A list of such acquisitions are

Hind Bank.,New Citizen Bank of India,  Surat Banking Corporation,  Umbergaon People’s Bank,  Tamil Nadu Central Bank, The Bank of India’s operations in Uganda,Traders Bank, which had a branch network in Delhi, Punjab Cooperative Bank in a rescue,  Benares State Bank (BSB) at the Reserve Bank of India’s request.

For IMPS transactions, NPCI provides the central switching, clearing and settlement service.

The following are  banks which have enabled  IMPS service to thier customers

(16 public sector banks, 12 private banks, one foreign bank and one co-op bank):-

Axis Bank , Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Federal Bank, Indian Overseas Bank , IDBI Bank, YES Bank, Indian Bank, Dombivli Nagari Sahakari Bank, Corporation Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce , Development Credit Bank, Canara Bank, Syndicate Bank, Karur Vysya Bank , Punjab National Bank , Citibank, South Indian Bank, UCO Bank, Vijaya Bank, Andhra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur, Bank of Baroda are the banks which are on IMPS grid as on 11/11/2011.

Out of the above,  5 Banks i.e. Catholic Syrian Bank , IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, South Indian Bank, and Andhra Bank are in Soft Launch. Well, the internal systems, must have not yet stabilised.

30 September 2011, RTGS/NEFT Closed. IMPS open

30 September 2011, RTGS/NEFT Closed. 

IMPS open 30 September 2011

31/08/2011 - RTGS/NEFT Closed

31/08/2011 - RTGS/NEFT Closed.
31/08/2011 - IMPS is open