New banking connect platform to give RBI real-time oversight of transfers

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Banking Connect, a newly launched net banking platform, will help the Reserve Bank of India monitor fund transfers in real time, a top official of NPCI Bharat BillPay said on Thursday.

NPCI Bharat BillPay (NBBL) is targeting an increase of nearly four times in the number of monthly bills processed to 1 billion in four years, as against 260 million at present, Noopur Chaturvedi, managing director and chief executive of NPCI Bharat BillPay (NBBL), told reporters here.

A real-time view of transactions on the Banking Connect platform will help the regulator monitor fund transfers to sectors such as cryptocurrency and gaming, Chaturvedi added.

At present, it takes at least a week for the RBI to receive transaction data from banks via net banking, and sometimes it can take up to a year, she said.

It is worth noting that the RBI has an aversion to private cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and has also taken a slew of regulatory measures to restrict their use. The government has recently taken measures against real-money gaming.

The new platform will also minimise fraud incidents by acting against suspect transactions.

The social engineering frauds, wherein a gullible customer is tricked into divulging sensitive information or taking actions that benefit the fraudster, will be hard to contain, she added.

The platform has been created to address gaps in overall payment systems, after recognising that the facility is primarily used for merchant payments.

The new platform has a slew of features, including interoperability and a mobile-first approach.

Six banks and many payment aggregators are part of the platform, she said, adding that efforts are underway to get the top five banks by net banking volumes to join in a month's time.

The Banking Connect platform, created by NBBL, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), was launched last month.

Chaturvedi said the overall number of banking customers using net banking stands at 80 million at present, who conduct around 300 transactions per month, valued at over Rs 6 lakh crore.

While UPI growth has been very fast, net banking has been growing at single digits, she said.

Elaborating on the aim of increasing bill payment transactions, Chaturvedi said at present about 70 million households are using the facility and the NBBL is targeting to increase the same to over 135 million or half of Indian households.