India's leading telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, earlier this year forayed into the banking sector by announcing India's first Payments Bank service, the Airtel Payments Bank. Currently, Airtel Payments Bank has more than one million merchants on board.
Recently, Airtel Payments Bank has integrated Unified Payment Interface (UPI). Doing so, Airtel Payments Bank became the first payments bank in the country to offer UPI services. Airtel Payments Bank currently has over 25 million customers, and with the UPI integration, all the customers can create a personalised UPI handle.
Here are some things you need to know about UPI integration with Airtel Payments Bank:
1) First Payment Bank in India to Offer UPI Services
As stated earlier, the Airtel Payments Bank is India's first payments bank to offer UPI services with which the customers can create a UPI handle of their own and transact in both offline and online channels.
2) Users Can Create as Many as VPA (Virtual Payment Address) Handles
In Airtel Payments Bank, users can create as many as UPI handles and link their bank account with every UPI handle. So, whenever someone transfers money using that UPI handle, that money will be automatically delivered to your linked bank account.
Also, Airtel Payments Bank allows you to link multiple bank accounts with a single VPA, which is a welcome addition.
3) Customers Can Create UPI Handle in My Airtel app
After announcing the Airtel Payments Bank, the company has integrated the payments bank services to it's application- My Airtel App. And to create a UPI handle, users should use the My Airtel app and by logging in Payments Bank tab of the App. The UPI address created by you will look as- **********@airtel. That said, Airtel suggests you create the handle with your mobile number.
After opening the application, head over to the Payments Bank section where you can see a new option called 'UPI.' Click on the UPI option, which will now ask you to create a UPI handle. In the same process of creating a VPA address, the application will ask you link the address with your bank account. It will automatically fetch the bank accounts associated with your Airtel Payments Bank mobile number.
4) Add Airtel Payments Bank UPI in UPI Apps as Payment Option
Another highlight aspect with the Airtel Payments Bank UPI service is that users can also use the BHIM app for UPI-based payments. In addition, you can add Airtel Payments Bank UPI as a payment method in other UPI-based apps such as Google Tez, PhonePe, etc.
Advantages of Airtel Payments Bank UPI Integration
UPI is the next big thing in the Indian digital market, and also a huge step towards Indian Government's cashless country. Already, UPI has seen a massive growth this year since its introduction late last year.
So, the advantage of having UPI on the Airtel Payments Bank is that users can now use their UPI ID for making transactions. Earlier, every user was required to provide his personal details such as bank account number, branch IFSC code, etc. However, with UPI, you just have to provide your UPI ID. Also, do make a note that UPI-based transactions are instant & secure, and yeah, UPI works 24*7.
