Within 10 days of its launch by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) has clocked 10 million installs and over 2 million transactions across the UPI (Unified Payment Interface) and USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) platforms.
BHIM has made sending, requesting and receiving money directly to and from bank accounts fast and easy. Users can also check their balance anytime and switch between accounts in case they have multiple bank accounts. Money can also be sent to non-UPI supported banks using IFSC (Indian Financial System Code) and Account Number.
Users who have enabled mobile banking for their bank accounts, and registered their current numbers with the bank will find it easy to get started with BHIM. Users who have not done so, can easily do this at their closest ATM or bank branch. In case users face issues with their banks while using BHIM, the ability to get in touch with the bank’s representatives directly has also been made possible via a ‘Call Bank’ and a ‘Report Issue’ feature. Users can also provide feedback or report app specific issues within.
Drawing inspiration from the Make in India initiative and built in record time by the National Payments Corporation of India, BHIM stands tall as a beacon of India’s technological prowess and is a testament to Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar’s vision of tackling the scourge of black money via innovation. Due to its usability, BHIM has emerged as one of the fastest growing and highly rated applications on Google Play. With a size of less than 2 megabytes, BHIM is also one of the lightest applications for payment purposes.
Users of over 35 banks can use BHIM for their financial transactions. More banks are expected to go live on BHIM over the next few weeks. BHIM was launched in 2 languages (Hindi and English) on the Android platform but will soon be made available in 10 additional Indian languages and on other mobile platforms. As per the Hon’ble PM’s remarks during the launch of BHIM, with UPI 2.0 users will have an option to pay using Aadhaar Authentication & also pay utility bills on BHIM using the Bharat Bill Payments System (BBPS).
BHIM has been designed for quick and secure user on-boarding, sports a best-in-class and intuitive user interface and makes transactions seamless. BHIM has been a huge boon for merchants who can now accept payments directly into their bank accounts. All users, including merchants, get a ready to use VPA (virtual payment address) and an exclusive, ready-to-print QR code upon sign-up.
Banks have reported significant increase in UPI transactions and are expected to ramp their infrastructure up to deal with greater volumes over the next few weeks. Users have also shared excellent feedback across digital forums like Google Play, Twitter and Facebook with NPCI. NPCI’s customer service representatives have been listening to users closely and working accordingly to make improvements. Additionally, all BHIM users automatically qualify for the recently announced Lucky Grahak and Digi-Dhan Vyapar Yojanas.
Given the rapid adoption of BHIM, NPCI is considering increasing limits on transaction values (currently capped at 20,000 per user per day and 10,000 per transaction). The limit for USSD has currently been set at 5,000 per day.
NPCI will continuously work on delivering the Hon’ble PM’s vision for a less-cash society, where the poor and the marginalised are empowered.
Users on Android can experience BHIM via Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.org.npci.upiapp). Users without access to data services, can experience BHIM by dialling *99# on their phones.
