The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

The National Payments Corporation of India is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems under the ownership of Reserve Bank of India.

NPCI was founded in December 2008 by the Reserve Bank of India and Indian Banks' Association, under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

It is a not-for-profit organisation registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013, with an intention to provide infrastructure to the entire Banking system in India for physical as well as electronic payment and settlement systems.

The organisation is owned by a consortium of major banks, and has been promoted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

It was started with ten promoter banks, in 2016, the shareholding was diluted to include 13 additional public sector banks, 15 additional private sector banks, 1 additional foreign bank, 10 multi-state co-operative banks and 7 regional rural banks.

RuPay

RuPay, is an indigenous multinational financial system and payment service conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on 26 March 2012.

RuPay supports the issuance of debit, credit and prepaid cards - RuPay Cards now have the functionality of NCMC (National Common Mobility Card) which can enable low value contactless payments (like transit, toll, parking, retail) using Offline technology.

RuPay facilitates electronic payment at all Indian banks and financial institutions and maintains ties with international network partners (Discover Financial Services, Japan Credit Bureau and China Union Pay) to gain international acceptance.

Immediate Payment Service (IMPS)

With Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and is built upon the existing National Financial Switch network.

IMPS was publicly launched on 22 November 2010 to make India the leading country in the world in real time payments in retail sector.

It is an instant payment inter-bank electronic funds transfer system in India. The service is available 24x7 throughout the year including bank holidays.

NEFT was also made available 24x7 from December 2019. RTGS was also made available 24x7 from 14th December 2020.

National Automated Clearing House (NACH)

NACH is the centralised web-based payment solution that helps the banks, corporate sectors, government and other financial institutions to handle bulk payments.

High volume payments that consist of salary pay, water, electricity, telephone bills, loan amounts, EMIs, mutual fund investments payments can be received through NACH solution.

The system was launched by NPCI and provides for both account based and Aadhaar based transactions.

Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (ABPS)

APBS is a unique payment system implemented by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which uses Aadhaar number as a central key for electronically channelizing the Government subsidies and benefits in the Aadhaar Enabled Bank Accounts (AEBA) of the intended beneficiaries.

It is a payment system based on Aadhaar numbers issued by UIDAI & IIN (Institution Identification Number) issued by NPCI.

APB System is used by the Government Departments and Agencies for the transfer of benefits and subsidies under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme launched by Government of India.

Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS)

AEPS is a bank led model which allows online interoperable financial transaction at PoS (Point of Sale / Micro ATM) through the Business Correspondent (BC)/Bank Mitra of any bank using the Aadhaar authentication.

The only inputs required for a customer to do a transaction under this scenario are: Bank Name, Aadhaar Number and Fingerprint captured during enrollment.

Banking Services Offered by AePS are:

1) Cash Deposit
2) Cash Withdrawal
3) Balance Enquiry
4) Mini Statement
5) Aadhaar to Aadhaar Fund Transfer
6) Authentication
7) BHIM Aadhaar Pay
8) eKYC

National Financial Switch (NFS)

National Financial Switch (NFS) is the largest network of shared automated teller machines (ATMs) in India.

It was designed, developed and deployed by the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) in 2004, with the goal of inter-connecting the ATMs in the country and facilitating convenience banking.

It is run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by NPCI, it allows sending or requesting money from one bank account to another.

The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.

Any UPI client app may be used and multiple bank accounts may be linked to single app. Money can be sent or requested with the following methods:

1) Virtual Payment Address (VPA) or UPI ID
2) Mobile number
3) Account number & IFSC
4) Aadhaar
5) QR code

UPI 2.0

On 16 August 2018, UPI 2.0 was launched which enabled users to link their overdraft accounts to a UPI handle.

Users were also able to pre-authorise transactions by issuing a mandate for specific merchant.

It also included a feature to view and store the invoice for the transactions.

There's also an added feature of AutoPay facility for recurring payments.

Bharat Bill Payment System

Bharat Bill Payment System is offering 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)

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program 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.