Interoperable payment system may be launched soon to facilitate internet banking. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said this on Monday. At present such transactions are done through Payment Aggregator (PA). But this system is going to change soon.
Internet Banking System: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said that an interoperable payment system to facilitate internet banking is likely to be launched this year. With this, traders will be able to get the facility of immediate settlement of transactions. Internet banking is one of the oldest methods of online payment transactions and is a preferred method for payments like income tax, insurance premiums, mutual fund payments and e-commerce. At present such transactions are done through Payment Aggregator (PA). But this transaction requires a bank to be separately associated with each payment aggregator of different online platforms. Payment ‘aggregator’ is a third-party service provider that enables customers to accept online payments and businesses to accept payments.
Addressing the Digital Payments Awareness Week function, the central bank governor said, ‘With multiple payment aggregators, it becomes difficult for a bank to integrate with every PA. Additionally, the absence of a single payment system and separate rules for such transactions leads to delays in crediting payments to merchants’ accounts and settlement risk.’ Keeping these constraints in mind, RBI’s ‘Payments Vision 2025’ envisaged an interoperable payments system for internet banking transactions. For this, RBI had given approval to NPCI Bharat Billpay Limited (NBBL) to implement such a system.
What will be the benefit?
“We hope to launch this payment system for internet banking during the current calendar year,” Das said. The new system will facilitate quick settlement of funds to the businessmen. This measure will increase users’ confidence in digital payments. He said that the country’s leading payment system ‘UPI’ has become the most talked about instant payment system not only in India but across the world. UPI’s share in digital payments to reach close to 80 percent in 2023. At the macro level, the number of UPI transactions is projected to increase from 43 crore in calendar year 2017 to 11,761 crore in 2023. About 42 crore transactions are being done through UPI in a day. Das said that trust in digital payments is built on transparency, ease of use and above all security. In such a situation, it is very important to strengthen the perception of safety and security of the payment system.
