Everything To Know About the BHIM App

The UPI-based BHIM app allows anyone to pay or receive money through online banking.

| Updated: Monday, January 2, 2017, 16:01 [IST]

Last Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of a UPI (United Payments Interface) based app called Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM). The app has been specially launched to facilitate people to make simple digital payments directly from their bank account.

While this move is mainly focused on driving the nation towards a digital economy, PM Modi on the launch day affirmed that the BHIM app will help people make digital transactions much easier. He stated that the app could be used in all mobile phones whether it is a smartphone or a feature phone.

Further, he mentioned that there was no need to have internet connectivity and that the app supports fingerprint authentication.

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On the other hand, this latest launch from National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) looks to be interesting and it does come with other features as well. You may have already read a few things about the app but now let us examine the app more closely. Read on further to know about the BHIM app.

The BHIM App

The BHIM app is basically an inter-operable app that enables fast, secure and reliable cashless digital payments through mobile phones. The app is linked to the user's bank account, and unlike other e-wallet apps, they don't have to load money on it. The merchant also does not have to worry about transferring the money back to their bank account.

Downloading the BHIMP App

The BHIM app is available for download on Google Play. BHIM app is presently available only for Android but the government has promised that the iOS version will also come in a few days' time.

Using the BHIM App

The setup and usability of the app seem to be quite simple. So once the user downloads and installs the BHIM app, he or she will have to register for an account. It can be done with the bank account through the app, and set a UPI PIN. The user's mobile number will be their payment address and the user can start transacting.

Through the app, users can send or receive money to a phone number, check balance, or scan a QR code to make a payment without sharing a phone number.

Additionally, users can use the BHIM app to transfer money to non-UPI banks using the IFSC codes.

BHIM App and Feature Phones

Well, for people asking the question "will it work on a feature phone", the answer is yes. This is a unique feature of the app. The interface behind the BHIM app can be accessed using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) even from a feature phone.

Users will need to dial *99# to access it. The good thing about this method is that an internet connection would not be required to use the core functionality behind the BHIM app.

Banks Supporting the BHIM App

Most of the major banks are supported by the BHIM app. While the app is inter-operable with other Unified Payment Interface (UPI) applications and as long as the bank supports UPI, users will be able to access their money through the BHIM app.

The list of banks supported by the BHIM app are Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Catholic Syrian Bank, Central Bank of India, DCB Bank, Dena Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, IDFC Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, IndusInd Bank, Karnataka Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank, RBL Bank, South Indian Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, State Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Union Bank of India, United Bank of India and Vijaya Bank.

BHIM App Transaction Limit

As per the transaction limit that has been placed in the app, a maximum of Rs.10,000 per transaction will be permitted followed by Rs. 20,000 within 24 hours.