How is BHIM app different from mobile wallets
BHIM is a digital payments solution app, for easy and quick transactions, based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
- Feb 23, 2017,
- Updated Nov 30, 2017 7:33 PM IST
The Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) mobile app, launched on December 30, 2016, in a bid to make digital financial services available to all, has emerged as one of the fastest growing apps.
Within 10 days of launch, it has seen one crore downloads, and over 20 lakh transactions across the UPI (unified payments interface) and USSD (unstructured supplementary service data) platforms. While it is a big step towards digital inclusion, how different is it really from the existing digital payments systems?
BHIM app is not a mobile wallet; it is an open platform which links directly to any bank account and proves to be much more useful than mobile wallets. "UPI being a more efficient platform from a user or merchant point of view, it will overtake wallets in no time now. Wallets will exist till they keep giving cashbacks.
In the long run, wallets will not exist in India," Lohcheb says. Wallets have a few shortcomings. Only a fixed amount of money can stay in a wallet app, unlike BHIM. Wallets do not allow users to send or receive money from different mobile wallets; whereas there is no such restriction within the BHIM app as it uses UPI.
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The Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) mobile app, launched on December 30, 2016, in a bid to make digital financial services available to all, has emerged as one of the fastest growing apps.
Within 10 days of launch, it has seen one crore downloads, and over 20 lakh transactions across the UPI (unified payments interface) and USSD (unstructured supplementary service data) platforms. While it is a big step towards digital inclusion, how different is it really from the existing digital payments systems?
BHIM app is not a mobile wallet; it is an open platform which links directly to any bank account and proves to be much more useful than mobile wallets. "UPI being a more efficient platform from a user or merchant point of view, it will overtake wallets in no time now. Wallets will exist till they keep giving cashbacks.
In the long run, wallets will not exist in India," Lohcheb says. Wallets have a few shortcomings. Only a fixed amount of money can stay in a wallet app, unlike BHIM. Wallets do not allow users to send or receive money from different mobile wallets; whereas there is no such restriction within the BHIM app as it uses UPI.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine