Digital Payments is need of the hour – Frequently Asked Questions

1. I am not a regular user of digital payments. I use my debit cards only for cash withdrawal from ATM. How can I migrate to mobile payment to meet this situation of lockdown?

If you have a smart phone and your phone number is already linked with bank account, you can easily migrate to mobile banking. Lockdown or no lockdown, adopting digital payments is the way to go. Steps involved are simple – Download, Activate and start using – in flat five minutes, if not two minutes is claimed by many. For downloading the the mobile banking package of your bank, go to Play Store /App Store ( for Iphone) in your phone. As you open the app for the first time, it would lead you to activate your mobile banking and ask a few questions to validate whether you are the right customer. It may also ask you to create the user Id and password. Create a password that others cannot guess and you can easily remember, You will find various functionalities in the mobile banking app – including payments through IMPS and NEFT. Many banks have integrated UPI and bill payment and e-commerce links in the bank app itself. Thus, you would have all three digital payment options- IMPS, NEFT and UPI . They are available 24x7. Make small transfers of Rs 5-10 to your family members or friends using all three options and choose the one that suits you best. Personally, I would suggest to use of UPI option because of its simplicity and variety of use cases and on-line grievance handling procedure. You can meet most of your payment transaction needs in UPI – like money transfer to dear and near, payment of utility bills, school/ college fees, ordering home delivery of food items or buying from ecommerce market places and even tax payments.

2. Can I not use third party UPI / digital payment app like BHIM ?

Yes. You can. But with mobile banking app of your bank, you can manage various types of banking transactions including payments. SBI has positioned its YONO application as “You only Need One” aap and so is the case with many leading banks. Options are many. My recommendation is that you use your own bank’s Mobile app and supplement with one of the third party packages like BHIM, GooglePay, PhonePe or PayTM. BHIM is managed by NPCI – the operator for UPI system itself and has the best grievance handling system. If you are a frequent user of Amazon, Amazon app itself has Amazon Pay- their UPI offering. Almost all mobile banking packages and all UPI packages mandatorily have QR code features. At small kirana stores, you can open the UPI app and pay by QR code. Use of QR code is much simpler and faster.

3. I have a credit card. But I use the same only in physical store at the POS device and to fund my wallet. Is it safe to use this credit card on the internet ?

Absolutely safe. Make sure that your mobile phone is linked with the credit card so that for any transaction on the credit card, you get the mobile alert. When you make payments towards utility bills or purchase of goods or services on the internet, at the checkout stage, opt for Credit Card option and provide the details required. You can save the Credit card in the ecommerce app for future purchases, Most secure aspect of credit card is CVV. It is not saved anywhere except the card issuing bank/ non-bank. 4. My usage of digital payment is limited to use of a wallet (PayTM/ Mobikwik, Pockets) and fund my wallet from credit card. Should I surrender my wallet and completely move to Mobile banking app or third party UPI ?

You can continue to have a wallet and at the same time have the mobile banking app of your bank or a third party UPI app. If you bank with multiple banks, you can link all your accounts in a single UPI app and toggle between the banks with same UPI id. Wallet can be used for very small amount.

5. I used to pay all my bills and other institutional payments by cheques. I used to write the reason for issuing the cheque in the Record Slip. With restricted movement during lockdown, I am forced to adopt digital means. I am worried that I would not be able to keep a record.

Not to worry. Digital equivalent is available in the mobile banking apps. Full transaction history can be seen at any moment. Anyway, usage of cheque as a payment method is declining very fast with increased adoption of digital payments. Credit card payments can also be done digitally if you have not chosen for auto debit to your bank account.

6. I am worried about cyber fraud. How can I be sure that my accounts are safe ?

Follow the tips regularly being sent by your bank through broadcast messages. Key recommendation is not to share your user id, Password, UPI PIN, ATM PIN OTP and account details with any one. Keep you mobile password protected so that no one misuses your mobile phone. Look for SMS alerts for every transaction you make. If you follow the bank prescribed precautions, you would not be liable even if there is a cyber attack on your bank account. RBI has come out with zero liability circular to protect the customers provided complaint is lodged with the bank within 72 hours of fraudulent transaction in your account.

7. Should I use Debit card or Credit card for my purchases ? Can I link my credit card for UPI transactions?

If you are a prudent user of Credit card and make 100 percent payment in auto debit mode at the end of the billing cycle, I would recommend credit card. But if liquidity is not an issue, you can opt for debit card. The Payment Gateways in India are reasonably secure and there is no distinction between credit and debit card so far as data security of transactions are concerned. Backend Fraud management practices at banks and credit card companies are equally good. But for UPI linkage, currently RBI allows only bank accounts possibly for the reason that credit card data processing is not 100 percent in-house in banks. It is only a matter of time.

Authored By: A.P.Hota , Former CGM RBI and former MD&CEO, NPCI