UPI – Unified Payments Interface

UPI or United Payment Interface is a payment system that helps in the instant transfer of funds between two banks through a mobile platform. In other words, it acts as a platform for different banks to get into one single application. This trending payments system in India is the fastest payment gateway and has been developed by the National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI) and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI).

UPI is completely built on IMPS technology with an aim to instantly transfer funds from one bank account to another bank account with the help of a UPI Virtual Address(unique address given by the bank) or through a Bank account number and IFSC.

Features of UPI

The features of UPI interface are as follows:

• Bank details are required only once; after which UPI ID or VPA is required
• Transfer upto ₹1 lakh in every transaction
• Simple virtual address for money transfer
• Schedule transactions
• Linked with Aadhaar
• Barcode based payments
• Transfer money anywhere at anytime
• Secure with single click
• Available 24 *7

Benefits of UPI

• The UPI is the cheapest form of fund transfer when compared to NEFT and RTGS. Where RTGS transactions are charged at ₹2.5 and IMPS charges are ₹2.5, UPI transactions cost less than 50 paise for every transaction.
• UPI makes small transactions feasible. In fact, it has reduced the dependability of cash or even netbanking.
• UPI transactions do not require too many information for a transaction. Unlike card payments where you need to provide card details, UPI transfers require only the virtual payment address. This is similar to our email address, ravishankar@sbibank, 985647564@icici.
• As said, UPI transfers do not require any information and is therefore more safe and secure. The virtual payment address does not give any clue about your bank account. Moreover, the authentication takes place at your smartphone and requires two different PINs.
• After a UPI app, you do not require multiple apps for your respective banks. It is simply based on the concept of One App, All Accounts. A single UPI would serve many bank accounts.

UPI Transaction Limit

• The NPCI has set a transaction limit and per day transaction limit for UPI transfers. At present, the UPI transfer limit per UPI transaction is ₹1 Lakh.
• This limit is enabled as UPI is based on IMPS technology.
• In most of the cases, the maximum number of UPI transactions is limited to 20.
• Although the transaction limit per UPI transaction is ₹1 lakh, the upper limit depends on bank-to-bank. Therefore, the upper limit could be between ₹10,000- ₹1 lakh.
• The transaction limit per day for UPI transaction is ₹1 Lakh.
• The maximum limit for BHIM UPI is ₹10,000 per transaction and ₹20,000 in a 24 hour window.
• The limit may be revised from time-to-time.

Types of transactions that can be done on UPI

The following transactions can be conducted through UPI:

• Sending/Receiving money: You can instantly transfer or receive money just through your virtual payment address.
• Bill payments: You can pay your utility and communication bills
• Merchant transactions: You can also by anything, from buying groceries and booking movie tickets on an online app.

How to use UPI?

To start using UPI, all you need is a virtual payment address. The steps to register for UPI are:

1. Download the UPI app you believe best suits you.
2. Add your bank account with the help of your registered mobile number.
3. Once your bank account is added by filling in all the required details, you can create your VPA. Enter your desired prefix, e.g. hari@icici and check for availability.
4. Click on submit to receive confirmation of your registered VPA.

Please note the process mentioned is generic and could differ from app-to-app.

How to Register for UPI? | Steps for UPI Registration Online

The steps you need to follow in order to register for UPI transactions are given below:

1. After creating the VPA, you would be asked to create M-PIN to use UPI. Select the bank account you want to pay using UPI.
2. Click on Mobile Banking/Generate M-PIN.
3. You will receive a One-Time Password(OTP) from your bank on your registered bank.
4. After entering the OTP, enter the last 6 digits of your debit card number and the expiry date of your card and click on submission.
5. You will receive a confirmation text for your M-PIN.

How to make payments with UPI

You can make payments through UPI applications by following the steps given below:

1. Log in to the respective UPI application.
2. After successful login, select the transaction option of Send/Receive payment.
3. Enter the beneficiary’s/Payee virtual ID, amount and select the account to be debited.
4. Review the details on the confirmation screen and then click “Confirm”.
5. Enter the M-PIN of the bank.
6. You will receive the status of the message which could be “Success” or “Failure”.

How to receive payments with UPI?

In order to receive payments with UPI, here are the steps that need to be followed:

1. Log in to your UPI application.
2. After successful login, select the option of collecting money.
3. Enter the remitter’s/payers virtual id, amount and the account to be credited.
4. Review the details on the confirmation screen and then click “Confirm”.
5. The payer will then get the notification on his/her registered mobile number.
6. Payer then will have to click on the notification and open his bank UPI app where the payment request is reviewed.
7. Payer then will have to accept or decline the request
8. If the payer accepts the request, payer will enter the M-PIN to authorize the transaction.
9. Once the transaction is complete, payer gets the status of the success and decline transaction notification.
10. Payee/requester gets the notification or SMS from his/her bank about credit of his bank account.