RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced on Monday (March 4) that an interoperable payment system for internet banking is expected to be launched in 2024, facilitating faster fund settlement for merchants. Speaking during the Digital Payments Awareness Week celebrations, Das revealed that NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL) has received approval from the central bank to implement this interoperable system. He anticipates the launch of the system within the current calendar year, emphasizing its benefits for merchants by expediting fund settlement.
Bharat BillPay is an integrated ecosystem that connects banks, non-banks, billers, payment service providers, and retail bill outlets. Das highlighted that the introduction of the interoperable payment system will enhance user confidence in digital payments. Currently, transactions processed through payment aggregators (PAs) lack interoperability, requiring banks to integrate separately with each PA of different online merchants. This fragmentation leads to delays in payment receipt by merchants and settlement risks due to the absence of a unified payment system and rules.
The announcement aligns with RBI’s ‘Payments Vision 2025,’ aiming to significantly increase digital payment transactions by 2025 and reduce cheque-based payments to less than 0.25% of total retail payments. This move comes as RBI has granted PA licenses to several entities recently, including Amazon Pay, JusPay, Stripe, Tata Payments, and Mswipe.
During his address, Das noted that digital transactions in India surged to 14,726 Cr in 2023-24 (until February 2024), marking a substantial increase from 162 Cr transactions in 2012-13. India now accounts for almost 46% of global digital transactions, largely driven by the growing adoption of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI’s share in digital payments rose to nearly 80% in 2023, with transaction volume escalating from 43 Cr in 2017 to 11,761 Cr in 2023.
It is noteworthy that UPI transactions experienced a remarkable surge, reaching a record 11,768 Cr in 2023 from 7,404.45 Cr in 2022, marking a nearly 60% increase. The total value of UPI transactions also witnessed a substantial YoY growth of over 40%, amounting to INR 182.84 Lakh Cr in the previous year.
