Bangalore, July 17 2017:Sometimes, plenty can be a problem. Demonetization drove  most  of  us,   into the ranks of e-payers, using one or other of a bewildering  array of  cashless transaction tools. Nudged by government, banks rolled out electronic money transfer solutions by the dozen – but no two of them ‘spoke’ to each other. And if they did,  they  still did not work with private wallets like Paytm, MobiKwik etc. Shops and supermarkets, accepted some but not all these proprietary e-cash options, defeating their very purpose.  We have been through  a confusing  six months. But the end is in sight.
Thanks to the  zeal and efficiency of the National Payments Corporation of India ( NPCI), the Universal Payment Interface or UPI has emerged as the most robust e-payment platform, public or private,  bringing all partner banks to one single payment platform. And its best, most useful   tool is BHIM – Bharat Interface  for Money. As of this week, 52 banks in India have rolled out their own BHIM app  for Android and iOS-based  phones, making this the one must-have mobile payment app for an Indian.  It doesn’t matter that your credit or debit card is already linked to Visa or Mastercard – or to the NPCI-regulated RuPay system. It is still worth enabling your handset with BHIM, because this is today the easiest, most elegant   way to send or receive money in India. All you need is a bank account with a linked debit card  and  a linked cell phone number.   Suddenly the online money transfer systems,  we have been using like NEFT and RTGS and IMPS seem so yesterday. 
With BHIM you can select your own PIN and your payment address  which could be  anand@ IOB or leela@PNB.  So can your recipient.  The system doesn't ask to know details like the payee's bank account, bank IFSC code etc, only the  selected payment address  of the recipient.  As long as the amount is up to Rs 1 lakh, BHIM/UPI is the  fastest way to send or receive money today. And it is  instantaneous.
In less than 6 months, over 16 million users have downloaded the app and transacted  some 15 million times, spending  or receiving Rs 4.6  million.  The amount of money exchanged is still a fraction of what the  Visas and Mastercards do.  But  they have been around for nearly  50 years. BHIM is for the rest of us -- whose spend is in hundreds not in thousands and lakhs.  There is no better proof of its potential than the queue of biggies  who have joined or  are poised to  integrate with UPI and BHIM:   WhatsApp, Facebook, Google ( AndroidPay),  SamsungPay, Uber, Ola,Flipkart...  
IndusOS,  the multilingual Indian mobile operating system  has integrated UPI  in partnership with Yes Bank. Almost every Indian phone Karbonn, has launched India's first  mobile phone with BHIM pre-installed  -- the Rs 5290-priced K9 'Kavach'.    The push has come: Expect every  phone sold in India to  have BHIM on the opening screen -- soon.