There’s no denying that demonetization has affected the public in a significant way. Thankfully, the government has provided various options for the customers to continue banking as usual with the help of easy-to-use mobile wallets as well as the newly launched UPI services. UPI stands for Unified Payments Interface, and a number of financial institutions have aligned with the project.
What can you do with UPI apps?
Well, you can send snappy payments via IMPS and even request for payments from your contacts, provided they are also using a UPI app on their smartphone. This is pretty much like a mobile wallet, but something that is inked directly with the bank.
One advantage with UPI apps is that even if you download an app from another bank, you will still be able to enter account details from your source bank without much fuss.
How to get started?
The apps are Android only for the time being, but an iPhone app is apparently on its way. Once you get the app of your choice (Yes Bank, ICICI Bank etc) on the Play Store, you will simply have to enter your mobile number that you have registered with the bank. This step will also ask you to create a new 4-digit PIN number, which is basically a password and will have to be used when users log in each time.
Following this process, you will have to create a new and unique VPA or virtual payment address. This will be used by others to send you money or identity your account. The VPA can be anything ranging from your name to the phone number.
With the VPA process out of the way, it’s now time to connect to your bank so that all your details are made visible. The transaction limit on UPI is capped at Rs 1,00,000, with the minimum being Rs 50.
To receive money from someone, you merely have to pick out the VPA name/address from your list and then request or schedule a payment. Bear in mind that you can only receive money when the user on the other end also has a UPI app.
[Source:- Techradre]
