ICICI Bank has announced the launch of a new service to allow its ‘Pocket’ app users to link their e-wallets with UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID. The company says it marks the departure from the current practice that demands such IDs be linked with a savings bank account. New users, including those who are not customers of ICICI Bank, can now instantly get a UPI ID, which is automatically linked to the ‘Pockets’ wallet. Customers who already have a UPI ID will get a new ID when they log on to the app. ICICI says the initiative enables users to undertake small value everyday transactions directly from their ‘Pockets’ wallet instead of savings account in “a safe and secure manner.” It will essentially streamline transactions undertaken daily from their savings account. It would also allow users to de-clutter savings account statement of multiple entries. Further, it expands the convenient usage of UPI to young adults like college students, who may not have a savings account. ICICI Bank says the development is the “first” in the industry to enable customers to make UPI transactions from their wallet balance instead of their savings account.
The bank has collaborated with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to roll out the new service. With this, customers using ‘Pockets’ can pay or receive money directly from/to e-wallet balance without using their savings bank account. Users of the digital wallet can use the UPI ID to make person-to-person (P2P) payments such as sending money to any individual’s bank account or paying to a contact. They can also undertake person-to-merchant (P2M) payments like paying online at merchant sites or paying by scanning QR codes. Additionally, users get exciting rewards on every transaction that they make using the wallet.
Speaking over the development, Bijith Bhaskar, head of Digital Channels & Partnership at ICICI Bank said that the launch of Pockets five years ago enabled users to open a digital wallet instantly on their mobile phone. “Our research suggests that users are keen to link their UPI ID with their digital wallet so that they can directly use the balance in the wallet for smaller transactions while using their savings account only for the larger ones. Armed with this insight, we are delighted to have worked closely with NPCI to introduce this unique innovative solution in digital banking,” ICICI senior executive added in a statement. COO at NPCI Praveena Rai also lauded the partnership and said the new initiative would “democratise access to UPI and make it ubiquitous with digital payments” solution.
To start using the facility, a new user needs to download Pockets, available for free on Apple App Store and Google Play. After signing up, a Pockets VPA is automatically created based on the registered mobile number of the user. For eg: 9999xxxxxx@pockets where ‘9999xxxxxx’ is the registered mobile number. There are no bank account details required for the creation of the UPI ID. Further, a user can also modify the auto-created UPI ID to an ID of his/her choice through the ‘modify’ option under ‘BHIM UPI’ within the app.
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