BHIM - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: both a and b are the same

Explanation:
PM Narendra Modi launched a series of initiatives on the 126th birth anniversary of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar in Nagpur on April 14, 2017.

He launched the BHIM Aadhaar platform for merchants, Cash back and Referral bonus schemes for BHIM and declared about 75 townships going less-cash.

The Prime Minister felicitated the winners of the Mega draw of the two major incentive schemes to promote digital payments- Lucky GrahakYojana and DigidhanVyapaarYojana..

BHIM-Aadhaar, the merchant interface of the BHIM App, will pave the way for making digital payments by using the Aadhaar platform.

Any Indian citizen can pay digitally using their biometric data like their thumb imprint on a merchants’ biometric enabled device which could be smart phone having a biometric reader.

Any citizen without access to smart phones, internet, debit or credit cards will be able to transact digitally through the BHIM Aadhaar platform.

Already, 27 major banks are now on board with 7.15 lakh merchants so that they can start accepting payments using BHIM Aadhaar.

The Prime Minister also launched two new incentive schemes for the BHIM – Cash back and Referral bonus – with an outlay of Rs. 495 crore for a period of six months.

This is to ensure that the culture of digital payments permeates down to the grassroots.

The initial two incentives schemes viz., Lucky GrahakYojana and DigiDhanVyaparYojana, came to an end after a rigorous 100 day information, education and communication campaign led by NITI Aayog

ANSWER: BHIM

Explanation:
BHIM, which the government has developed for fast and secure cashless transactions, was on 11^th Feb 2017 launched on the iOS platform.

“The much awaited #BHIM for iOS is now available on the AppStore. Apple users, download #BHIM now! #ItPaystoBHIM," Niti Aayog indicated in a tweet.

The Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) was available on Android platform.

On December 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the app for fast and secure cashless transactions using mobile phones.

BHIM is a platform designed to make payment through UPI and USSD modes simpler.

The number of downloads for BHIM app has crossed 1 crore mark.

The BHIM app downloads which have shot up in a matter of a few days "shows how India is changing" with regard to adoption of digital payments and cashless transaction.

Digital payment channels like mobile wallets, USSD and RuPay have seen massive uptake and rise in transactions post demonetisation.

According to government data, the number of transactions on USSD (mobile short code message used mainly for banking services on feature phone) saw a massive 5,135 per cent jump.

The increase was from 97 such deals a day on November 8 to 5,078 on December 25.

UPI transactions - which allows users to transfer funds from one bank account to another using a smartphone - grew 1,342 per cent.

This is from 3,721 such transactions a day on November 8 to 53,648 on December 25.

BHIM: Know More

• Developer: National Payments Corporation of India
• Initial release: 30 December 2016
• Platform: Google Play, App Store
• Available in: English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Gujarati
• Type: Payment
• Website: NPCI Portal

ANSWER: Bharat Interface for Money

Explanation:
PM Narendra Modi on 30^th Dec launched UPI (United Payments Interface) based app called BHIM, short for Bharat Interface for Money.

The BHIM app is a straightforward UPI app, which would allow anyone to make simple digital payments directly from their bank account, and it is now available for download.

The UPI-based BHIM app allows anyone to pay or receive money through online banking, unlike a wallet where you have to first load the money before you can use it.

Be it a smartphone or feature phone of Rs 1,000-1,200, BHIM app can be used. There is no need to have Internet connectivity.

With the BHIM app, anyone can send or request money through the app to make a digital payment.

The app is linked to your bank account, so you don't have to load money in it unlike a wallet, and a merchant does not have to worry about transferring the money back to their bank account.

It can be downloaded by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Google Play to start using the free Android app.

BHIM app is presently now available on Android and will come to iPhone 'soon'.

All the major banks are supported by the BHIM app - as long as the bank supports UPI, you will be able to access your money through the BHIM app.

The list of banks supported by the BHIM app is as follows:

Banks Accepting BHIM

1. Bank of India
2. Vijaya Bank
3. United Bank of India
4. Union Bank of India
5. Syndicate Bank
6. State Bank of India
7. Standard Chartered Bank
8. South Indian Bank
9. Bank of Maharashtra
10. RBL Bank
11. Punjab National Bank
12. Oriental Bank of Commerce
13. Kotak Mahindra Bank
14. Canara Bank
15. Karur Vysya Bank
16. Karnataka Bank
17. IndusInd Bank
18. Indian Overseas Bank
19. Indian Bank
20. IDFC Bank
21. IDBI Bank
22. ICICI Bank
23. HDFC Bank
24. Catholic Syrian Bank
25. Federal Bank
26. Dena Bank
27. DCB Bank
28. Central Bank of India
29. Bank of Baroda
30. Axis Bank
31. Andhra Bank
32. Allahabad Bank

Know More About BHIM

• There is a maximum of INR. 10,000 per transaction permitted, and INR. 20,000 within 24 hours.
• The BHIM app comes with basic features such as the ability to send or receive money, linking of accounts, saving profile of the user, changing the language, recording beneficiary details and providing balance enquiry.
• Banks that currently have individual UPI apps can either endorse the common BHIM app or only allow their customers to use the in-house app which may be loaded with more features.