BHIM loses traction as private players lure customers with cashbacks

Experts say as merchants' pay picks up, BHIM will see more transactions from smaller cities

Touted as a game-changing app in driving digital transactions, BHIM, which stands for Bharat Interface for Money, was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself in late 2016 with much fanfare. Just three years down the line, the youngest Digital India tool seems to be losing out to competition as consumers prefer private sector payment platforms such as PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm. This is largely because of the large-scale promotions and cashbacks being doled out by these companies.

For instance, in May this year, BHIM, which is managed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), posted 15.7 million transactions