In collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) Bank has launched a facility for linking a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ID with its digital wallet, ‘Pockets’ and became the 1st one in the industry to link e-wallet with UPI Network.
- By linking Pockets with UPI, ICICI enables its customers to undertake UPI transactions from their wallet balance instead of their savings account, as the users can directly use the balance in the wallet for smaller transactions.
Key points:
i.Departure from Saving Account: The current initiative marks a departure from the current practice which demands UPI IDs to be linked with a savings bank account.
ii.ICICI Bank will provide a UPI ID for the non-customers of ICICI Bank, and it will be linked automatically to Pockets and for the customers who already have a UPI ID, it provides a new ID when they log on to the ‘Pockets’ app.
iii.The initiative expands the usage of UPI to those who do not have a savings account (e.g. students) as there are no bank account details required for the creation of the UPI ID.
Benefits of UPI-linked ‘Pockets’:
i.Scan and Pay: Users can make person to person (P2P) payments and person to merchant (P2M) payments (paying online at merchant sites or paying by scanning QR codes) through Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) UPI in the ‘Pockets’ app.
ii.Money transfers: Customers could transfer funds from their ‘Pockets’ wallet to a savings account or any other ‘Pockets’ wallet, by entering the recipient’s ‘Pockets’ UPI ID or savings account details.
About ICICI’s Pockets:
ICICI Bank launches ‘Pockets’ digital banking service on 2015, India’s first digital bank on a mobile phone.
i.It is the e-wallet of ICICI Bank powered by VISA, and it is the first app that uses the NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to make payments at the point of sale(PoS).
ii.Benefits under Pockets: Ease of funds transfer, payment of utility bills, and ease of shopping through online or offline modes as well as a physical card upon request.
About Unified Payments Interface(UPI):
i.UPI is an instant payment system developed by NPCI, UPI is built over the Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) infrastructure and allows the users to instantly transfer money between any two parties’ bank accounts.
ii.NPCI set the maximum funds that an individual can transfer through UPI per transaction to Rs 1 lakh.
Recent Related News:
On March 31, 2021, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank, have tied up to launch a New Umbrella Entity(NUE) for retail payments along with global e-commerce major Amazon and cards major Visa as their partners.
About ICICI Bank:
Establishment – 1955(Incorporated in 1994)
Headquarters – Mumbai, Maharashtra
MD& CEO – Sandeep Bakhshi
Tagline – Hum hai na, Khayal Apka
