The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday released draft guidelines for streamlining the onboarding and monitoring of Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) operators to counter frauds perpetuated through the ecosystem. Banks and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) are required to comply with these directions within three months from the date of issue of the guidelines.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transaction value and volume saw a slight month-on-month dip in April after record highs in March, but daily transaction volumes increased, indicating sustained growth in digital payments across India.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced its 'Payments Vision 2028' document, outlining initiatives to enhance digital payment security, introduce electronic cheques, and expand regulatory oversight to include e-commerce entities.
Bihar Police arrested 141 people in a state-wide crackdown on mule bank account networks allegedly used for cyber fraud. The operation, 'Cyber Prahar 2.0', led to the registration of 86 FIRs and uncovered collusion by bank employees.
From April 1, 2026, the Reserve Bank of India's new authentication directions modernise how every digital payment you make must be verified -- and place the burden of security squarely on your bank, not on you.
Through this mobile application, the handset will be used for authenticating biometrics of customers making Aadhaar enabled payment.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will soon allow subscribers to withdraw their EPF and transfer it directly to their bank accounts through the UPI payment gateway. Testing of the facility has been completed, according to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
About 85 per cent of the digital payment transactions take place through UPI in India, and the country can be a case study in inclusive, secure, and scalable Digital Public Platforms (DPPs), Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra has said. He was speaking at a "High-Level Dialogue on Forging Economic Resilience through Digital Public Platforms" organised by RBI on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC on Tuesday.
UPI has catapulted India into the forefront on the global digital payments landscape. Working hand in hand, the AePS payments system is making life easy for rural folks, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Aadhaar-enabled payment system, or AEPS, allows consumers who don't have smartphones or debit cards to perform basic banking transactions like cash deposit, cash withdrawal, intrabank or interbank fund transfer, balance enquiry and obtaining a mini statement through biometric authentication at micro-ATMs.
While UIDAI has given a nod for face authentication, banks need to join the process.
With UPA facing allegations of corruption, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said his government wants to use new technology to curb dishonesty and bring transparency in governance.
Since the first Aadhaar number was issued in September 2010, more than 1.33 billion Aadhaar cards have been generated till June 2022. With the Aadhaar enrolment of adult Indians nearing 100 per cent, the main objective of the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), which was to give Unique Identification numbers (UID) to all residents of India, is almost achieved, said a senior government official. "Enrolment will now be much more update-based, because people keep updating their mobile numbers and addresses.
The payment mechanism is aimed at checking corruption and pilferage in the social sector schemes that seek to promote financial inclusion.
Aadhaar is helping in weeding fake beneficiaries from social welfare schemes and transforming lives across Jharkhand.
Diversified business house Trident Group would become the first corporate to use Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) for disbursal of salaries to its employees.
UPI topped Rs 24 trillion in value of transactions and 19 billion in volume for the first time after becoming operational in April 2016.
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions saw an 8 per cent month-on-month increase in volume to 16.73 billion in December, the highest volume for the digital system since it became operational in April 2016. The value also increased by 8 per cent to Rs 23.25 trillion, up from Rs 21.55 trillion in November.
After a gap of more than three years, the central government has agreed to resume the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) works in West Bengal with immediate effect, but subject to mandatory adherence to stringent conditions. These include a prohibition on any work valued at more than 20 lakh, compulsory 100 per cent electronic know-your-customer (eKYC) verification of all workers, and mandatory pre-estimation field visits for all works before they are undertaken.
The country has come a long way in the process of financial inclusion, Raghuram Rajan said, but "still has a way to go".
The move would help tax authorities get leads on evasion.
'With a very stable technology with limited functionalities, a large network has spanned out.'
The race to get a New Umbrella Entity (NUE) licence for digital payments may get crowded. As many as six consortiums are said to be in the fray to apply for an NUE licence, which would create a for-profit National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)-like body for retail payments. A consortium led by Financial Software and Systems (FSS), a leading provider of payment products and payment processor, is in talks and may file an application to the RBI for an NUE license, said sources aware of the development. The other constituents of this group include Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, India Post Payments Bank, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), and a few small finance banks.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked fintech firms to focus on risk management at a time when criminals are using AI to mimic voices, clone identities and create lifelike videos to manipulate people.
UIDAI has asked police to investigate, it was not fully convinced about nature of the incident
The transition to UPI-based ATMs will be gradual, and consumers will not immediately switch to using standalone UPI ATMs overnight.
Digital-pay companies see 10x growth spurt after demonetisation, report Ayan Pramanik & Shine Jacob/Business Standard from Bengaluru.
...benefiting 350,000 persons. Also, Trai detected and blocked seven million mobile phone connections involved in cyber fraud and suspicious activities.
Aadhaar-based e-KYC facility would allow individuals or entities wanting to apply for PAN to verify details such as date of birth or address by way of biometric identification using thumb impressions.
To check digital frauds, the government has disconnected 70 lakh mobile numbers so far involved in cybercrime or financial frauds, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi said on Tuesday. Emerging from a meeting to discuss issues related to financial cyber security and increasing digital payment fraud, Joshi, who chaired the meeting, said banks have been asked to strengthen the system and processes in this regard. More such meetings would take place, he said, adding the next meeting is scheduled in January.
'United Health Interface is in line with UPI. UPI is a language of money transfer, similarly, UHI is a set of protocols, which is going to create a language of health service delivery'
The 16-digit randomly generated number by the Aadhaar system was supposed to be introduced by the UIDAI on March 1 and mandatorily deployed by companies using Aadhaar by June 1.
'The focus needs to shift towards the ability to collect payments, particularly in tier-3 to tier-4 areas where acceptance is still lacking.'
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
'Dear Business Partner, Kindly note and inform your all customers that Digital Cashback has been revised from 0.75 per cent to 0.25 per cent with effect from August 1, 2018 across oil industry for all loyalty customers,' said the text message sent by State-owned oil companies to petrol pump operators.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will launch the Unified Lending Interface (ULI) nationwide in due course, aiming to transform India's lending sector, similar to how the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) revolutionised the payments ecosystem, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday.
The govt has a lot more to do then just open bank accounts for the poor in the Jan Dhan scheme.
Isn't there something significant in the UPI example for all of us to learn from and execute to enable world-scale success for our startups?, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
India's sprawling digital public infrastructure received a glowing endorsement from billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Wednesday as he praised the country's "great" digital network, reliable and low-cost connectivity, and said this will be the cheapest 5G market. Under the G20 presidency of India, a session on 'Building resilient and inclusive economies- the Promise of Digital Public Infrastructure' was held on Wednesday in New Delhi, where the Microsoft co-founder spoke of India's digital identity Aadhaar, its payment infrastructure, and rapid strides that the country has taken in bringing more people into formal banking system. "India in particular, by laying the groundwork for digital public infrastucture starting with identity system, allows people to build on top of that.
Aadhaar now has legal backing but it still faces challenges of privacy and data sharing