In a bid to build best-in-class payment and settlement systems for a ‘less-cash’ India, the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday unveiled a Vision-2018 document, which, among others, envisages review of the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system to enable faster payment processing through introduction of more frequent settlement cycles.
According to the document, with increasing adoption of electronic payments, particularly those driving e-commerce and m-commerce, there is a growing demand for “faster” payment services which, in turn, facilitate ease of doing financial transactions. Individuals, businesses and government agencies/departments are increasingly adopting NEFT.
NEFT is a nation-wide payment system facilitating one-to-one funds transfer. Under this system, individuals, firms and corporates can electronically transfer funds from any bank branch to any individual, firm or corporate having an account with any other bank branch in the country participating in the system.
On mobile banking, the document said its policy efforts will also focus on ensuring that access to mobile banking services is seamlessly provided to the large number of users of non-smartphone handsets in multiple languages.
The RBI noted that high mobile density in the country is being increasingly leveraged to offer payment services by a wide range of payment service providers so as to enable an on-the-go, faster payment experience to the customers.
Further, efforts are being made to on-board or increase customer registration level for mobile banking through simplified registration process and increasing the access points for the same (through authorised ATM networks).
Service providers will be encouraged to adopt technology to provide innovative, easy-to-use, mobile-based payment solutions in an interoperable environment without compromising on security.
The large number of bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) as well as the large number of cards issued to these accountholders, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, necessitate that the access to electronic payment services are quickly augmented.
Hence, the central bank said, a policy framework will be put in place for setting up necessary acceptance infrastructure, including ATMs and POS terminals, across all geographical and industry segments in the country.
When it comes to protecting customers’ interest, the RBI said it will encourage payment providers to adopt best practices by putting in place robust fraud and risk-monitoring systems. In addition, a regulatory framework to limit customer liability in case of unauthorised transactions would be put in place.