Amidst the air of Demonetization, our Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi came along with a small relief to help the masses struggling with Cash and to celebrate a better New Year.
On Friday, 30th December 2016, an UPI (United Payments Interface) based mobile application called BHIM was launched for digital transactions.
In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned that it is a major step towards the government’s effort to make the country digital and transactions cashless. The results would output in faster payments and pure transparency in the dealings.
What the BHIM App Actually is?
The BHIM (BHarat Interface for Money) is a USSD based mobile-based application, so, apart from using the app on your smartphones, it can be effectively used on a feature phone of 1000-1200 bucks.
As we are already aware of payment merchants and mobile wallets like Paytm, Freecharge, etc. but the BHIM app is very different than these mobile wallets.
The app doesn’t even require any internet connectivity and would make the transactions easier as it allows anyone to make simple digital payments directly from their bank account, unlike a mobile wallet where you need to first load the money before you can use it.
How to Get BHIM App for my Phone?
Released on Friday (30th December 2016), the BHIM App is now available to download for all the major Android phones on the Google Play Store by NPCI, short for National Payments Corporation of India.
Till now, it is exclusively distributed for Android Platform only and will be available for iOS devices ‘soon’.
The app requires Android 4.1 and up and currently has a 4 star ratings by more than 70 thousand users.
How Does the BHIM App Work?
BHIM operates and transacts in a whole different way unlike the major Mobile Wallets as you need to load money in your wallet first before using it for any payment or purchase. However, the BHIM app and all the UPI (United Payments Interface) apps allow you to connect your phone number with your bank account which can directly transact money like a Debit Card.
There are no transaction costs or middle commissions via the BHIM app. Everything is free and transparent.
After downloading the BHIM app, all you need is to connect your Bank Account with the app and set a UPI PIN for the transactions.
The payments can be sent on Mobile Numbers which work as the transaction address for the customer. Apart from the mobile number, you can generate a QR code that can be scanned for sending and receiving money. You can also check your account Balance through the BHIM App.
Few More Important Things to Know!
You can make successful transactions even without a smartphone easily. The BHIM app as previously mentioned can be used with a feature phone too.
Just dial *99# with your device and a menu will open on the screen which can be operated using the Dial Pad. Like type ‘1’ to send money, ‘2’ to receive, and similar other ways. The transaction is finalized with a PIN that is generated using BHIM and works effectively without an Internet Connection.
One important point to keep in mind is that the transaction limit of the BHIM app is Rs 10,000 per transaction and Rs 20,000 on a per-day basis.
I hope this initiative would be beneficial for the country. 🙂
Editor’s Note: This is an old article published first in January 2017 but last updated in August 2021 for some required modifications.
BHIM App Launched by PM Modi it has a purpose, It is very useful and required to know about BHIM.
Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Good Information..