In a significant move towards simplifying and enhancing the Instant Mobile Payment System (IMPS), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has issued a directive to its member banks. This directive, referenced as NPCI/IMPS/OC No. 18/2013-14 dated July 24, 2013, emphasizes the adoption of “Mobile Number + Bank Name” based transactions to facilitate easy and convenient fund transfers. Traditionally, IMPS has processed transactions through P2A (Account + IFSC) or P2P (Mobile Number + MMID) transfer modes. However, with the migration of IMPS from ISO to XML, the NPCI envisions a customer-centric journey that leverages the simplicity of Mobile Number and Bank Name combinations.

Under the new framework, “Mobile Number + Bank Name” transactions will be executed on the existing P2P railroad using the Mobile Number + default MMID combination (as per NPCI/IMPS/OC No. 10/2012-13). Remitter banks are instructed to maintain a mapping of Member Bank Names with default MMID (NBIN + 000) and enhance their UI/UX to facilitate seamless beneficiary validation and financial transactions. Furthermore, remitter banks are mandated to provide a Beneficiary validation facility to customers before initiating any financial transaction. This ensures a secure and error-free fund transfer process. Beneficiary Banks, in turn, are directed to accept Bank Name (default MMID) based transactions and validation requests. Payments will be processed to the Beneficiary account, with priority given to the primary/default account for those customers with multiple accounts linked to a single mobile number. The identification of the primary/default account will be based on the customer’s consent.

If consent is not provided, the bank will decline the transaction. To ease the transition, banks are required to offer an option for customers to add a successfully validated Mobile Number and Bank Name combination as Payee/Beneficiary on both Mobile Banking and Internet Banking channels. All member banks are urged to comply with these changes and initiate and accept fund transfers through the “Mobile Number + Bank Name” mode on all IMPS channels by January 31, 2024. This strategic move is poised to revolutionize the IMPS landscape, providing users with a more straightforward and efficient means of conducting financial transactions.