National Payments Corporation of India

Why in news?

• National Payments Corporation of India  has announced that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has crossed 2 billion transactions in October, the first time it has done.

About NPCI:

• It is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.
• NPCI is a not-for-profit organisation registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013, established by the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks' Association.
• The ten core promoter banks are State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Citibank N. A. and HSBC.

Services created by NPCI:

• RuPay : RuPay is an Indigenously developed Payment System that supports the issuance of debit, credit and prepaid cards by banks in India and thereby supporting the growth of retail electronic payments in India.
• IMPS : Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is a 24*7  instant payment inter-bank electronic funds transfer system in India whose service is offered through mobile phones. It was launched in 2010.
• ABPS : Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) System is helping the Government and Government agencies in Direct Benefits Transfer for various Central as well as State sponsored schemes.
• AePS: Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) uses biometric data of Aadhar for extending merchant payments.
• National Financial Switch (NFS): It is the largest network of shared Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in India facilitating interoperable cash withdrawal, card to card funds transfer and interoperable cash deposit transactions among other value added services in the country.
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
• Bharat Bill Payment System: It offers one-stop bill payment solution for all recurring payments with 200+ Billers in the categories Viz. Electricity, Gas, Water, Telecom, DTH, Loan Repayments, Insurance, FASTag Recharge, Cable etc. across India.
• National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) :It has been developed to meet the electronic tolling requirements of the Indian market. It provides an electronic payment facility to customer to make the payments at national, state and city toll plazas by identifying the vehicle uniquely through a FASTag which are Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) stickers affixed on the vehicle windshield. Fastag enables the driver to make toll payments electronically while the vehicle is in motion without stopping at the Toll plazas by saving Fuel and Time.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding Unified Payments Interface (UPI):
1.It is the first mobile based payment system to be offered in India.
2.It is regulated by Reserve Bank of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question