NPCI Announced Open Source Licensing Model for BHIM App To Help Banks Launch Their UPI Apps - Full Report
NPCI - National Payments Corporation of India has led to increased flexibility and cost savings, and less dependency on third-party vendors. The organisation is the umbrella body for India's retail payment systems and has built RuPay, IMPS, and FASTag. Open source software is code that is designed to be publicly available.
NPCI has announced that it will launch an open source licensing model for the BHIM App, which will allow regulated entities in the UPI ecosystem to have access to the source code for the payments application. This will help regulated entities who don't currently have their own UPI app to develop one. NPCI also wants to provide a solution for the many banks that lack mobile banking apps, missing out on the benefits of UPI.
The BHIM app, which is also known as Bharat Interface for Money, is a mobile payment app that allows users to make transactions with a UPI enabled bank account. Users can log in using their UPI ID and scan a QR code to access BHIM and make a payment.
The initiative was launched to increase digital payments and financial inclusion in the country. The NPCI also announced a series of incentives for fintech entities that onboard under the licensing model. The incentive will encourage these entities to continue using the model. In addition, the NPCI has announced a collaborative initiative with fintech entities that aims to build on their existing partnership models.
BHIM QR code-based payments are currently available in HDFC Bank's PayZapp and ICICI Bank's Pockets app, with more banks to follow suit. The QR code can be scanned by customers and the transaction will be made to the merchant's bank account.