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Prime VIP
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched an Aadhaar-based mobile payment application called BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) - a rebranded version of UPI (Unified Payment Interface) and USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data), at the Digi Dhan Mela event in Talkatora stadium in New Delhi.
At the event, the PM also felicitated the winners of Lucky Grahak Yojana. After launching BHIM, he also made payment to Khadi using the app.
At the event, the PM also felicitated the winners of Lucky Grahak Yojana. After launching BHIM, he also made payment to Khadi using the app.
The new app is expected to minimise the role of plastic cards and the point of sale (PoS) machines once believed to be essential for a less-cash society.
The app would eliminate fee payments for service providers like card companies such as Mastercard or Visa, which has been a stumbling block in merchants switching to digital payments. That will make it affordable even to merchants in remote villages, said people familiar with the development.
All that the app needs to work is an Android phone with the merchant.
How does it work?
Merchants need to download the Aadhaar cashless merchant app on their smartphones connected to a biometric reader, which is currently available for Rs 2,000. The customer will then feed his or her Aadhar number into the app, select the bank through which the transaction will take place, and the biometric scan will work as a password for the transaction to be authenticated.
