National Payment Corporation of India Limited

National Payment Corporation of India Limited

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an initiative and action of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). It is an umbrella system or organisation for running retail payments and adjustment systems in India. NPCI has about ten core promoter groups and banks like Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, HSBC, HDFC Bank, Citibank, and ICICI Bank.

The organisation exists under the requirements of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 to build strong returns and settlement support for India. It is a non-profit system set up below the terms of Section 25 of Companies Act, 1956 (presently, Section 8 of Companies Act, 2013). NPCI intends to implement foundation to the whole banking production, both electronic payment and physical and settlements system.

Benefits of NPCI

• NPCI appoints rules, laws, guidelines, and the corresponding roles, duties and responsibilities of the participants, concerning UPI. This also covers transaction processing and contract, discussion control and removing cut-offs for settlement
• NPCI maintains and performs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform.
• NPCI affords a reliable, secure and effective UPI method and network.
• NPCI encourages the support of PSP Banks, Issuer Banks, Prepaid Payment Instrument issuers (PPIs) and Third-Party Application Providers (TPAP) in UPI.
• NPCI gives online transaction routing, processing and compact services to the members joining in UPI
• NPCI gives the banks engaging in UPI way to a practice where they can download papers, raise chargebacks, refresh the status of UPI events etc.
• NPCI can, either immediately or by a third party, control auditions on UPI associates and request for data, information and reports, about their support in UPI.

Features of NPCI

NPCI has made its important addition to the banking division through its products from time to time. The products or goods and their importance are listed below:

• NFS: National Financial Switch (NFS) ATM system with 37 member banks and joining 50,000 ATMs was used to NPCI’s right from the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) on 14 December 2009. After getting over, the NFS ATM system has increased many folds. As on 31 July 2019, there were 1,140 members with more than 2.41 lakh ATMs combined to the system.
• IMPS: Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) allows you to transfer funds in real-time throughout the clock, 365 days of the year. At the point of introducing IMPS, customers only had the RTGS and NEFT facilities that were confined to the bank serving hours. NPCI managed a pilot study of the technology with banks such as BOI, SBI, ICICI, and UBI in August 2010. It was openly started on 22 November 2010.
• CTS: Cheque Truncation System (CTS) promotes extensive cut-off time to take customer cheques by banks and decreases timelines for clearing. CTS has also reduced the cost included in the paper movement. It uses digital encryption or signature systems to prevent the use of image or data during transit.
• AePS: Aadhaar-enabled Payment Service (AePS) is a consequence of the effort to speed track financial inclusion in the country. AePS is a bank-led form that provides online interoperable business formation activity at PoS of any bank using the Aadhaar authentication for the retail trader. A consumer must give details such as bank credentials, fingerprint, Aadhaar number, to make such a transaction.
• RuPay: RuPay is a new or recent card payment method started to provide RBI’s idea to offer a private, open-loop, and multilateral regularity. This made it more accessible for Indian banks and economic systems to perform electronic returns. The word ‘RuPay’ is a mixture of 'Rupee and Payment'. NPCI also improved RuPay contactless repayments technology utilising open models.
• NACH: National Automated Clearing House (NACH) is a network or web-based solution that promotes interbank, huge volume automated transactions that are repeated. They are well satisfied with bulk purchases towards the combination of dividends, investment, payments, salary, pension, and more.
• APBS: Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) System is managed by the government and government companies to get direct benefit transfers concerning several central and state-sponsored systems.
• UPI: Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a method that offers many bank accounts to be obtained from a single mobile purpose. Users can get immediate money transfers for mobile devices round the clock, any time of the year. The technology also highlights peer-to-peer collect request co-operation with a scheduling department.
• *99#: *99# is USSD-based mobile banking assistance of NPCI started in November 2012. Later, the service had restricted range as it was accessible only with MTNL and BSNL systems. In August 2014, *99# was reintroduced including a more extensive ecosystem including 11 telephone service providers by the Prime Minister. After the launch of UPI in 2016, the *99# service intended to take banking assistance to all common people in the country.
• NETC: National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) is a nation-wide plan intended to satisfy the automatic tolling provisions in India. It is an interoperable toll debt clarification that involves clearinghouse services for compact and dispute control. NETC employs a standard set of rules that allows consumers to use FASTag as a cash mode at toll plazas irrespective of who manages the toll plaza.
• Bharat BillPay: Bharat BillPay is a method created by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and managed by NPCI. It is a one-stop-shop for every bill payments, such as insurance premiums, mutual funds, school fees, electricity, gas, telecom, DTH, water and more. It implements an interoperable and convenient service across India. This method is secure and reliable for usage. You can also set up recurring payments on the window. A proof of the amount will be sent to you through SMS or receipt.
• BHIM Aadhaar Pay: This is a payment that computes through which you can get real-time debts to merchants. It is done by utilising Aadhaar number or VPA of the customer supported by a round of authentication through biometrics. Such a deal is bounded to Rs.10,000 per transaction.
• BHIM: The initiation of the idea of UPI, an app called Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) was started to make returns simpler and more comfortable. Immediate bank-to-bank returns can be done using a mobile number or virtual payment approach or UPI ID.
• BharatQR: Primarily, a QR code is a group of black squares provided in a square framework that can be seen by a camera. NPCI, concurrently with the global card systems, acquired a common regular QR code term. This pointed out to the creation of Bharat QR (BQR), a person-to-merchant mobile payment solution. When a trader performs a BQR code, the user can consider the code through BQR-enabled mobile banking application and get the payment using a card-linked statement.

Documents Required for NCPI

• Application for AEPS association
• ISO IIN License Bond
• Declaration cum undertaking from sponsor bank
• KYC-AML Undertaking
• Report for IIN Application
• Declaration cum job from RRB
• AEPS Network Diagram
• AEPS Escalation Matrix

Who are the Regulatory Members of NPCI?

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is a non-profit organization that operates as the umbrella organization for retail payment systems in India. The regulatory members of NPCI are the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA).

Products of NPCI

NPCI offers a variety of products and services, including:

• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): A real-time payment system that enables instant money transfer between two bank accounts.
• Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS): A one-stop solution for all bill payments, including electricity, gas, water, telecom, and DTH.
• National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC): An electronic toll collection system enables the payment of tolls on national highways without using cash.
• RuPay: An Indian domestic card scheme that offers debit, credit, and prepaid cards.
• Immediate Payment Service (IMPS): Interbank electronic fund transfer system that allows customers to transfer funds instantly between banks.

What Are the Latest Updates on the National Payments Corporation of India?

• In July 2021, NPCI launched an artificial intelligence-based chatbot named PAi to enhance customer service and provide quick resolutions to customers' queries.
• In August 2021, NPCI announced the launch of UPI AutoPay, a recurring payments feature that allows customers to automate payments for regular transactions.
• In September 2021, NPCI launched a blockchain-based payment system called Vajra Platform, which aims to provide secure and fast payment processing for banks and financial institutions.

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