IPPB Enables Recurring Payments At Doorstep Through NPCI Bharat Bill Pay Platform

On Friday, 10 December 2021, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) and NPCI BillPay announced that the Bharat BillPay platform will enable doorstep cash-based assisted bill payments across the country. Bharat Pay is a payments system that offers an interoperable and accessible bill payment service. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India, a specialised division of RBI.

"With this collaboration, NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd. and IPPB are set to empower citizens by enabling bill payments at the doorstep through our ubiquitous network of Gramin Dak Sevaks and Postal staff," noted J Venkatramu, MD and CEO, IPPB. Further, he added, "Leveraging the last mile network of Department of Posts and IPPB's technology-driven digital banking platform, Bharat BillPay offers a one-stop ecosystem for payment of all bills providing an interoperable and accessible anytime anywhere bill payment service to all customers across India with certainty, reliability and safety of transactions."

Noopur Chaturvedi, the CEO of NPCI Bharat Billpay also stated on development that the alliance between Bharat BillPay and IPPB will transform the bill payments segment in the country and work as a catalyst for progress in India's financial inclusion.

Customers will be able to pay recurring invoices online or at their local post office. According to the announcement, the service is projected to benefit millions of unbanked and underserved customers in distant places by providing access to doorstep payment alternatives. Customers and non-customers of IPPB will be able to use the bank's mobile banking service to perform recurring transactions such as mobile post-paid, D2H recharge, school fees, and other utility services easily.

Using the IPPB digital banking app and portal, they will be able to create transaction alerts and reminders, view updated transaction history and raise or track complaints about Bharat BillPay transactions. The bank has also updated its bill payment platform with new product features and user interface improvements. With this improvement, customers of various banks and IPPB will have access to approximately 20,000 billers on the Bharat Bill Payment System.

In October 2021, the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit processed around 60.62 million transactions worth Rs 10,530.2 crores for over 20,349 billers. It is fast expanding as a result of the convenience and accessibility it provides to clients, as well as the one-stop solution it provides to billers for low-cost collections.