Interbank Mobile Payment System: Will It Catalyse Financial Inclusion?

• by Mukesh Sadana and Graham Wright
• Feb 15, 2011
• 1 min
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This note focusses on the present banking regulations which provide ample scope for banks and financial institutions to explore ways of reaching out to the un- and under-banked.

IMPS or the interbank mobile payment system is a service offered by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The IMPS provides a platform for account holders of participating banks to transfer money to any other account holder in the network. The only prerequisite is a mobile handset. Currently eight banks (representing about half of the bank accounts in India) are participating in the network while six others are under IMPS certification. The present regulations provide ample scope for banks and financial institutions to explore ways of reaching out to the un- and under-banked. Cooperation and coordination will be required to take advantage of the potential of these technological solutions and to create the type of inter-operable solutions that will lead to massive uptake and financial inclusion.