Can UPI make India Cashless Corruption Free Society

Can UPI make India Cashless Corruption Free Society

When dreaming about India of my Dreams in 2047 I had advocated for Cashless Corruption Free Society in India and to achieve the objective I had also proposed General Amnesty as a OTM (One Time Measure). I was a bit pessimistic that It may take many years and we may achieve the dreams by the year 2047 that is while celebrating India's 100th Independence Day.

But our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modi has initiated processes which may achieve the dreams during his own lifetime and term as Prime Minister or future President of India. Unified Payment Interface or UPI has been made live and may be available in first week of September,2016  with all the 21 Banks. It will help India towards its goal to achieve cashless economy next to Sweden, which has become the first country in the world to say goodbye to Cash Transactions.

What is UPI or Unified Payment Interface

Unified Payment Interface or UPI is an application developed by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organization for all retail payment systems in India. In the times to come UPI may replace the NEFT, RTGS and IMPS systems currently used for making payments or transferring money digitally. Public will be able to download and integrate the UPI applications with their respective banking applications.

The following banks, out of 21 banks approved by NPCI, have published their UPI applications so far on Google Play Store whereas 8 out 29 participating banks are yet to get approvals from NPCI:

• Axis Bank, Union Bank, UCO Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Vijaya Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Karnataka Bank and Canara Bank.

To find the UPI app of your Bank, you can either search for UPI or Play Store. 

How UPI is useful as compared to NEFT or IMPS: 

With UPI application interbank money transfer can be executed by using smartphones. Customers can make direct payments from their bank accounts to different online or offline merchants, retailers without providing credit card details, IFSC Codes or net banking and wallet passwords. Your smartphone will become a Virtual Payment Bank.

How to Start with UPI:

1. First of all download the UPI application of your bank from Google Play Store.
2. Set up application Log in.
3. Create Virtual Address
4. Add your Bank Account
5. Set Mobile PIN
6. Start Transacting using UPI

Once you have installed the UPI application on your smartphone, just open the application and enter your mobile number to create four digit secured PIN Number of your own choice. This secured Pin Number will be required every time when you open of use the application. 

You will notice an option UPI and tapping the UPI button you will be prompted to create VPA, Virtual Payment Address as per image below:

You can chose your virtual address as simple as your mobile number like 97XXXX6760 or your name like John, Smith or your nickname followed by @xyz (where xyz is your Bank's UPI address e.g. ybl for Yes Bank and pockets for ICICI Bank).

Once you finish creating your Virtual Payment Address, you will have to link your Bank Account by choosing your bank which will fetch all your bank account details in case your mobile number is linked to your bank account (Now you can update your mobile number in your bank account through ATM Machine without visiting your bank).

Can I download and use any Bank's UPI application:

The answer to this logical question is "Yes" as you can download any Bank's application and link your bank account with some other bank. You have the option to chose your bank account in case you have multiple accounts with the Bank linked to your Mobile Number. With the launch of UPI, it has become more important before you discard your old SIM Card.

I am sure that with the Unified Payment Systems in its place, India will become a Cashless, Corruption Free Society in India of My Dreams.