BHIM

Bharat Interface for Money or BHIM is a mobile application which is developed by NPCI or National Payments Corporation of India on the basis of UPI or Unified Payment Interface.

The application is launched by Mr. Narendra Modi who is the Prime Minister of India at the Talkatora Stadium at Digi Dhan Mela in New Delhi. The application has been named after Dr. Bhimrao R. Ambedkar. The ultimate goal is facilitating e-Payments via banks directly as a part of 2016 Indian banknote demonetization and driving towards cashless transactions.

BHIM supporting all Indian banks which make use of this platform which is built on the Immediate Payment Service infrastructure and enables the transfer of money instantly between bank accounts of two parties.

For the encouragement of cashless economy and in order to make digital payment a habit, this mobile application has been launched. This application is widely used across different financial institutions and banks with the single click of a button. The basic idea behind launching BHIM application is the promotion of different business transactions which used to take place by means of coins and notes beforehand. This application does not require access to the internet even and it is capable of working on simple feature phone as well. For adding more, Aadhar based payment system will be added to the application, Post that, the internet and mobile phones will not be essential as only thumb impressions will do the needful.

The common UPI-based BHIM application will be allowing users to send as well as receive money via mobile phones via linking bank accounts and procuring UPI PIN number. The application will work for featured phone holders via Unstructured Supplementary Service Data or upgraded USSD platform. The bank which has these individual UPI applications currently will be endorsing the common BHIM applications or forbidding the customers to make use of the in-house application which may be equipped with additional features.

Features of BHIM application

The e-Wallet application of BHIM is specifically for all types of digital transactions. The ultimate thought behind launching this application is one application or one platform for making different digital payments. Here is a list of few of the features of BHIM application:

This application enables transfer of money at ease or making payments from a bank account with the use of only phone number. In case the shopkeeper makes use of BHIM application, you should be opening the application, select send money after which you should be typing the amount as well as the phone number of the merchant for making the payment. The money will be debited from the account as well as credited to the bank account of the merchant which is linked to you as well as the vendor to the BHIM app.

This application will allow the scanning of QR codes. The merchant will be generating the QR code via BHIM application. For making payments, you require tapping the Scan and Pay button present in the application after which you should be scanning the QR code.

It is possible to make payments via BHIM application even if you do not have a smartphone. All you need to do is just dialing *99# from any type of mobile phone and a menu will be displayed to you by typing various numbers you can select for sending money, checking balance or viewing the transaction history.

For sending money, for instance, you require typing 1 and hitting send, after which again you need to type 1 for choosing a phone number. In the next step, you should be typing in the number as well as the amount. A PIN will be generated with the use of BHIM application. The application will work on any type of phone. The application will also be working on feature phones of Rs. 1000 that does not possess internet connection.

Shopkeepers can make use of this application and receive payments from a smartphone in case the customer has linked bank accounts as well as the Aadhar ID, after which the merchant will be using Aadhaar pay. It is an application which was soft launched several years before. For this, merchants will require smartphones along with a Rs. 2000 fingerprint reader.

The customer will be typing the Aadhaar number on the mobile phone of the shopkeeper and select the bank. The shopkeeper makes use of fingerprint reader for the purpose of instant confirmation for completing the payment procedure. The customer does not require carrying Aadhar card or using mobile phones, these are required only by merchants. With the aid of mobile wallet application, it is essential to upload a lump sum amount of money in the wallet prior to using the same. With the use of UPI and BHIM, it is possible to connect the phone directly to bank accounts in a similar way to debit cards. Payments can be made directly from and to bank accounts. Hence, merchants do not require worrying regarding the transfer of waller earnings to banks as well.

Almost all UPI connected banks can accept BHIM payments which are inclusive of major Indian banks such as HDFC, Axis, ICICI, SBI, to name a few. In case a bank is not connected to UPI, money can be received via this application with the aid of IFSC code.

Why should you use BHIM for money transfer?

BHIM is recognized to be the re-branded version of Unified Payment Interface or UPI as well as Unstructured Supplement Service data or USSD. You will require no access to the internet for the operation of this BHIM application. In case you possess featured phone or smartphone, it is possible to make use of this application at ease. You will be requiring only the thumb for making payments with the aid of this application. This indicates that you will be capable of making payments via thumb impressions. Android users can download this application from play store of Google. The application is however yet to be launched on Windows phone as well as iOS platforms. For registration, you need to add Bank Account in BHIM after which you require setting UPI PIN. This will be making the phone number PA or Payment address and you will be successful in making payments. The transaction limit is up to 10,000 rs in a single transaction. You can do a transaction of maximum Rs. 20,000 within a duration of 24 hours.

You can ask or send money to friends via payment address or registered phone number. With the aid of BHIM application, it is possible to send money to Non-UPI bank accounts via MMID and IFSC code. BHIM application is known to support English and Hindi languages. In future, it will be supporting more languages. Supported banks for this application are inclusive of UCO Bank, United Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, South Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, RBI Bank, Karnataka Bank, Indusland Bank, Indian Bank, HDFC Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, IDBHI Bank, Dena Bank, Central Bank of India, Catholic Syrian Bank, DCB Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra, Axis Bank, Andhra Bank, Allahabad Bank, etc.