Last weekend IDFC Bank announced Aadhaar number based cashless system. Retailer’s phone is used for digital payments. It has been named as Aadhaar Pay. Its launched in partnership with NPCI, UIDAI and IDFS Bank. The new system has been rolled out to 100 shopkeepers in the last three days. In this, Aadhaar and UPI are used for payment.
Meanwhile, SBI has announced that it has adopted Shidki village in Pen taluka of Maharashtra for testing of Aadhaar payments. The shopkeepers of this village have been provided with android smartphones and fingerprint scanners to promote cashless system there.
What is Aadhaar Payments?
As we have already told you that UPI is a big discovery in the field of banking. It uses your mobile to identify you and turns the mobile into a debit card, allowing you to make payments from anywhere.
In a word, UPI lets you transfer money instantly using the IMPS payment framework without knowing the account number or IFSC code. All you need is their virtual ID address such as gopal@icici (for example), or 1234567890@axis (use your phone number instead of 1234567890).
Aadhaar is considered the supporting infrastructure of UPI. With the help of which Aadhaar payments are done. With its help, after verification of biometric information given in Aadhaar, payment will be possible from those accounts which are linked to Aadhaar. This means that in the coming days, you will be faced with fingerprint readers instead of POS terminals.
Payment will be like this
Right now the system of Aadhaar Payments is in the initial stage. SBI has adopted a village in Maharashtra for Aadhaar payments and IDFC has provided this facility for 100 shopkeepers. This figure is so small that the chances of you encountering this system are extremely small.
As this system becomes more popular, you will need to… The first thing to do is to have an Aadhaar card. After this Aadhaar has to be linked with the bank account. If you haven’t linked already, go to the bank and share your Aadhaar details. However, many people are considering it a violation of privacy. But if you look at the merits and demerits of this system, you would want to be a part of it. After this you will not need anyone else.
The shopkeeper should have a system of Aadhaar payment. For this, bank account, Android smartphone and fingerprint scanner will be required. The merchant needs to install the Aadhaar Payment app on his phone. It is not yet on Google Play, but it will be made available in the future. At present, payment is being made by the banks for this arrangement. As it becomes operational, merchants will have to pay for it like a POS machine.
You just need to provide your Aadhaar number to pay at the store. After this your fingerprint will be scanned. Now you choose the bank linked with Aadhaar and then the payment will be done. You don’t need to install any app. No wallet is needed, nor should there be a special card nearby.
What will happen next…
Expect Aadhaar Payments to become more popular. Especially in small towns and villages, where smartphones and accompanying systems like wallets or UPI are unlikely to be used.