Payments on WebNotes

ASBA for Mutual Fund Subscriptions in India

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) is a payment mechanism regulated by SEBI whereby the subscription amount for a financial product remains blocked in the investor’s bank account – rather than being transferred out – until the allotment is confirmed. ASBA was originally introduced for IPO applications and is mandatory for all IPO subscriptions. For mutual funds, ASBA has a narrower and more recent application: SEBI directed a pilot implementation of ASBA-like blocked-amount mechanisms for mutual fund subscriptions, particularly New Fund Offers (NFOs) and certain lump-sum subscription scenarios, as part of its investor protection initiatives.

UPI AutoPay for SIPs in Indian Mutual Funds

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

UPI AutoPay is a recurring payment mandate facility on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) infrastructure, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and launched commercially in 2020. For mutual fund Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs), UPI AutoPay enables investors to register a recurring debit mandate on their bank account in real time using any UPI-enabled application, without visiting a bank branch or submitting physical forms. UPI AutoPay’s instant activation, frictionless mobile experience, and broad ecosystem integration have made it the dominant SIP registration mechanism for new investors from 2021 onwards, displacing the NACH e-mandate system that previously served this function.

Self Certified Syndicate Bank (SCSB)

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

A Self Certified Syndicate Bank (SCSB) is a bank that has been authorised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to act as a collecting bank for applications made through the Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) facility in public issues. The SCSB receives the ASBA application from a retail or high-net-worth investor, verifies the application, blocks the application amount in the applicant’s designated bank account, transmits the application data to the stock exchange, and manages the release or transfer of blocked funds after the allotment outcome is determined.

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.