The Reserve Bank of India has launched a new universal cashless system that allows you to make payments using your smartphone
Soon, you will be no longer needed to carry cash or a debit card or share your ATM pin and bank details to make payments. Yesterday, the Reserve Bank of India and National Payment Corporation of India launched Universal Payment Interface (UPI), a system that allows one to pay or receive payments in real time via a virtual address. So, whether you are dining at a restaurant, shopping at a mall or opting for a taxi ride, you can download a UPI app of any bank and make payments instantly. You will also be able pay for cash on delivery purchases made online using a UPI app. The UPI is built on IMPS (Instant Mobile Payment system), but it's different from the IMPS as it allows one to use any banking app (which supports UPI) to make as well as pull payments. Money can be transferred and received at any time using a UPI app. Users also get the choice to create a personalised UPI address.
How it works?
To make instant payments via UPI, users are required to share virtual UPI numbers. Once a receiver requests (pull) payment, the user gets a message on his phone to approve it. Post approval, UPI will look into the user's bank account and deduct money as requested and transfer it to the receiver's account immediately.
How to generate UPI virtual number?
Now, 29 banks have signed up, of which few have launched the service. If your bank is part of it, expect a message from them soon. This apart, NPCI has not released any information on how to generate UPI number.
