India Fintech on WebNotes

BHIM app

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) is a mobile payment application developed and operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It functions as the reference UPI client: the officially maintained, government-affiliated UPI app against which all other UPI participants (third-party application providers, PSP banks) are benchmarked for API compliance. BHIM was launched on 30 December 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Digi Dhan Mela event in Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi, approximately seven weeks after the demonetisation of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella organisation for operating retail payment systems and settlement infrastructure in India. Incorporated in December 2008 under the Companies Act as a not-for-profit company under Section 8, NPCI was promoted jointly by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). It received formal authorisation from the RBI under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act) as a payment system operator, and its schemes are classified as systemically important payment systems.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI)

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a real-time interbank payment system designed and operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It enables immediate fund transfers between bank accounts through a mobile application, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) as the primary identifier in place of a bank account number and IFSC code. NPCI launched UPI on 11 April 2016 with twenty-one partner banks after a soft launch and testing phase that ran through the preceding months.