Bharat Connect clocks Rs 1 trillion in transaction value in October

For the first time, central bill payments platform Bharat Connect processed transactions totalling Rs 1 trillion in October, recording 239.31 million transactions that month.

 

Bharat Connect was previously known as Bharat Bill Payment System. The NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited (NBBL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the apex body that operates India’s real-time payments system, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

 

At present, the platform has 22,097 billers.

 

Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an integrated bill payment platform that enables the payment and collection of bills through multiple channels, including mobile apps and bank branches, among others.

 

Various payment methods such as UPI, internet banking, and prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) can be used to pay bills.

 

In March, the Reserve Bank of India expanded the scope of BBPS as part of an initiative to enable non-bank payment aggregators (PAs) to participate in the system as operating units, encouraging greater participation.

 

In July, major credit issuers, including the largest—HDFC Bank—integrated their systems with BBPS for receiving credit card repayments via third-party applications. Other significant names, including Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Cards, Kotak Mahindra Bank, BoB Cards, and IndusInd Bank, are expected to be live on the platform soon.

 

This development followed a mandate from the banking regulator requiring that, starting July 1, all credit card repayments be processed through the BBPS platform. This move aimed to centralise the bill payment process and enhance security.

 

In October, NBBL partnered with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to integrate the National Pension System (NPS) as a biller category on the Bharat Connect platform.