About NPCI

• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was incorporated in 2008 as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India. 
• It is an initiative of the RBI and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, for creating a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.
• It has been incorporated as a “Not for Profit” Company under the Companies Act 2013.

Products & Services 

1. Unified Payments Interface (UPI): 

• Unique payment solution which empowers a recipient to initiate the payment request from a smartphone. 
• It facilitates ‘virtual payment address’​ as a payment identifier for sending & collecting money & works on single click 2 factor authentication. 

2. Immediate Payment Service: 

• A 24X7, real time, cost effective, independent channel, retail payment service, introduced by NPCI, empowering customers to transfer money instantly with banks & RBI authorised Prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) across India. 

3. RuPay:

• Indigenously developed Payment System designed to offer payment products with superior features & processes specifically designed to cater to diverse consumer needs. 
• RuPay supports the issuance of debit, credit and prepaid cards by banks in India and thereby supporting the growth of retail electronic payments in India.

4. *99#:

• USSD-based mobile banking service which enables offline sending & receiving funds, balance inquiry & setting/changing UPI PIN besides a host of services.

5. Aadhaar Payment Bridge:

• Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) System is helping the Government and Government agencies in making the Direct Benefit Transfers for various Central as well as State sponsored schemes.

6. Aadhaar Enabled Payment System:

• AEPS is a bank led model which allows online interoperable financial transactions at PoS (Point of Sale / Micro ATM) through the Business Correspondent (BC)/Bank Mitra of any bank using the Aadhaar authentication.

7. National Financial Switch:

• Facilitates routing of ATM transactions through inter-connectivity between its member institutions thereby enabling the citizens of the country to utilise any ATM of a connected entity.

Why in News?

• NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has signed an agreement with the Bank of Namibia to support the institution in developing an instant payment system like the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for Namibia.