Indian payments Landscape is transforming at an amazing pace. In the last one month, India has witnessed a major change in Economic transactions. The aftereffect of the surprising announcement of Government is perceived in all over India. In this scenario of “demonetization”, digital payment methods have become the prime medium of transaction in e-commerce.
India is a start-up core for the world and smartphone and the internet users in India is increasing day by day. All these factors act as a platform for online payment services. In the very recent past several Banking and Non-Banking institutions are offering electronic payment systems. We have to choose an online payment service for the hackle free cashless transaction. Here we illustrate the top 5 digital payment gateway in India.
Digital Payment Methods:
1. Mobile wallet:
A simple way to carry your cash in digital form. Actually, it is an app-based stored value account. Though primarily it was used for bill payment and recharge only. Nowadays mobile wallets are ideal electronic payment medium for all sorts of transactions. Both the Banking and Non-Banking institutions are offering mobile wallet services. You can make your online shopping, ticket booking, ordering foods through food apps, cab booking etc. through the mobile wallets. You can also send money through this online payment processor to the another person who has the same mobile wallet platform. Mobile wallets are funded through debit or credit card or net banking. So with this secure digital payment service provider, you can pay with your smartphone, tablet, or smart watch. You have to load the mobile wallet app on your smartphone, then wallet account has to be funded through cards or net banking. After fund addition, you can use your wallet for above-mentioned purposes. the various bank-led mobile wallets are Lime by Axis Bank, Pockets by ICICI Bank, SBI Buddy by SBI, PayZapp by HDFC and Ziggit by IDFC Bank.
2. NUUP/USSD Service | Mobile banking:
This is a mobile-based digital payment service provider. The full form is National Unified USSD Platform. USSD is an innovative digital payment service and it is the abbreviation of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data. This method allows mobile banking transactions using the nominal feature of a mobile phone without using mobile internet data facility. It is a combined effort of Banks and telecom service providers. The users of all GSM mobile handsets can avail the service. A customer can approach banking services by just dialing *99# from his/her mobile phones. The mobile No. should have to be registered with his/her Bank account. This service has been launched to cover every common man across the country. The prime services offered under NUUP include fund transfer, balance inquiry, mini statement and other value added services. NUUP is currently available on 11 Multi-lingual languages.
3. Net Banking:
Internet Banking portal provides anywhere, anytime, online access to an account. It is an electronic payment system which provides the customers a platform for a broad range of financial transactions through the official website of a particular institution. Internet Banking offers various services to fulfill your banking demands. The features of net banking are fund Transfer to own and third party accounts, Online shopping, Ticket booking (Rail, air, bus, hotel), online tax payment, online bill payments etc.
The other two special felicities of net banking are National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) and Immediate Payment Service (IMPS). NEFT is a one-to-one fund transfer, that means any individual or firm can digitally transfer funds from any bank branch to another individual or firm. If anyone has no bank Account, he or she can transfer funds (Maximum limit of 50,000) through the NEFT-enabled branches. IMPS offers an instant digital fund transfer service using mobile phones. IMPS is used to transfer money instantly within banks across the country through mobile, internet and ATM. This is a safe procedure for your money transaction.
4. POS Payment through cards:
Nowadays, marketing in a shopping mall has become an essential part of our lifestyle. Whenever your marketing has completed you can pay through the POS payment. Not only in shopping malls, many shops, and marketplaces are also using POS payment system in the current scenario. This system reduces the headache of carrying cash in your pocket. only a card (debit or credit) swipe can complete the transaction. Most of the Retailers used to offer you to pay through the POS payment System. The three key conditions for this payment gateway are POS Device, Merchant Bank a/c and Internet connectivity. You can pay your bill simply through the card swipe and then enter your pin and your bill amount will be directly deducted from your bank a/c. Don’t forget to collect your printed receipt.
5. Aadhar Enabled Payment System (AEPS):
AEPS makes another forward step for Digital India. You may use it in anywhere and anytime. if you do not possess any debit or credit card, then this system is the most helpful payment method for you. To enable this system just go to the bank and provide KYC(Know Your Customer) to open a new bank a/c, make sure that aadhar number is linked to your bank a/c and you are ready to avail this system. At the time of the transaction the bank will authenticate your aadhar and through the micro ATM or POS, they will complete the transaction. You can fulfill your several needs like cash withdrawal, deposit, balance inquiry, Aadhar to Aadhar fund transfer etc.
That’s all for the top 5 digital payment methods. You can choose anyone from these top 5 online digital payment systems to be a part of cashless India. For your convenience, we have tabled the features of cashless payment gateways.
Comperison of Different Digital Payment Systems
| Digital Payment Method | Requirements | Useful for whom | Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mobile Wallet | Smartphone, wallet apps, fund transfer to the wallet through your debit or credit card or net banking. | All the card holders and Net-bankers. | Headache free cashless transaction from anytime and anywhere. | You have to pay remittances to bank a/c. Transaction amount is limited. |
| 2 | NUUP/USSD Service | Basic featured mobile phone, Mobile no. should be linked with bank a/c. | All GSM service holders. | No need to have mobile internet connection. Digital banking services to every common man. | A minimum transaction cost may be charged to customer. transaction limit is Rs 5,000/day and Rs 50,000/annum |
| 3 | Net Banking | Internet connection, your bank A/C have to be enabled net-banking service. | All the Bank A/C holders. | Banking service in anytime and anywhere. Any individual with no Bank A/C can transfer fund through NEFT. | No. of NEFT settlement is restricted for weekdays and Saturday. No transaction in Holidays. Bank charges is applicable for availing banking services. |
| 4 | POS Payment | POS Device, Merchant Bank a/c and Internet connectivity. | Most of the Retailers used to offer you (card holders) to pay through the System. | Cashless shopping, Fund transfer limit is negotiable between Merchant’s Bank and payee Bank. | Loss of connection can be a vital issue during processing. |
| 5 | AEPS | An Aadhar card linked with your Bank A/C (KYC provided), micro ATM or POS. Bio-metrics authentication. | All the Aadhar card holders. | Easy Cashless transaction method for the person who has no debit or credit card. | In some remote area micro ATM or POS system may not work properly due to connection problem. |
| 6 | UNIFIED PAYMENTS INTERFACE (UPI) | Bank A/C, Mobile number should be linked with bank a/c Smart Phone with internet facility and Debit Card | All the Bank A/C holders who have debit cards. | users can manage multiple bank A/C into a single mobile app. | It is not available for every bank. only 30 banks provide UPI service. |
| 7 | Banks Pre-Paid Cards | Bank A/C (KYC provided), Smartphone, internet, MPIN | All the Bank A/C holder | Cashless hackle free transaction offered by all leading banks. | Monthly fund transfer limit is restricted and customer have to pay charges for transaction. |
| 8 | Micro ATM | Micro ATM device, Identity authentication for the customers. | Anyone who has their Identity authentication. | Through this system customer can transact fund into their bank account by only authenticate himself. | The only four services offered by the system are Deposit, Withdrawal, Fund transfer and Balance enquiry. |
More Read:
Government portal for Cashless Solutions
Top 5 Tips to Reduce Real Estate Tax
