A new service was introduced by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) last week – IMPS (Interbank Mobile Payment Service). IMPS enables instant fund transfer from one bank account to another across the country almost instantly.
Currently this service is provided by 7 banks – SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Bank of India, Axis Bank & Union Bank of India.
So how do I use this service?
STEP 1: Register for the service with your bank. (you will need to have downloaded the mobile banking application of the bank in your mobile). Union Bank allows this service through SMS also.
Bank will give a MMID (a 7 digit number) for your mobile-account combination. This is your unique ID for you to send/receive money.
STEP 2: Get the mobile no & MMID of the beneficiary
STEP 3: Use the your bank’s mobile banking application to send the IMPS – specify the mobile number & MMID of the beneficiary and the amount to be transferred.
Funds are transferred instantaneously. I received funds from my friend in 15 mins – from ICICI Bank to Axis Bank.
Presently the service is provided free of cost, probably to increase the awareness, later banks may choose to charge for the service. Currently only the cost of connecting to the bank from your mobile is the only charge.
How to get MMID – different banks have different process of obtaining MMID. Axis Bank in fact sent MMID to the registered mobile number for the account holders. A good move to help account holders who want to use this service to receive funds.
It would be better when more banks join this service and also when banks allow this service through SMS since it will make this service universal even to people with lower end mobile phones.
Transfer Limits
Currently a per day limit of Rs.50,000/- is set for encrypted transaction and Rs.1,000/- for unencrypted transaction.
Need to confirm whether this is only sending limit or receiving limit also.
I see an opportunity in integrating this payment mode with online payment gateway wherein a person can make payment through this service for online shopping. So who will be providing this feature first…