NPCI announces that UPI is now being offered by 50 banks across the country

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced that the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is now supported by fifty banks across the country. Thane Bharat Sahakari Bank, Apna Sahakari Bank, Janata Sahakari Bank, The Mehsana Urban Co. Op. Bank and Vasai Vikas Sahakari Bank have all started offering UPI based transactions recently. The Saraswat Bank and Equitas Small Finance Bank have both indicated their willingness to join the platform. At the end of April 2017, the total volume of transactions was 7 million, up from 6.2 million in March. Mr. Dilip Asbe, Chief Operating Officer, NPCI said, “The UPI ecosystem now covers all Public Sector Banks and major private banks. Now we are in the process of extending the service for co-operative bank customers. UPI’s growing merchant base is also helping its users to make digital transactions seamlessly.” There were more details revealed about upcoming feature updates to the **BHIM application** launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2016. The update will include more languages, facility to split bills, and integration of **Bharat QR** code for making payments. The NPCI also re-iterated that the **BHIM app referral scheme is gaining momentum** . According to the scheme, Rs 395 crores is being given to both referrer and referee users of the BHIM app, between 14 April, 2017 and 14 October, 2017.