IDFC Bank today announced the nationwide launch of IDFC Aadhaar Pay,India’s first Aadhaar-linked cashless merchant solution that uses a retailers’ own android smartphone to enable cashless payments.
IDFC Aadhaar Pay will enable millions of merchants across the country to facilitate cashless
purchases for customers in a cost effective and scalable way, supporting the government’s initiatives
towards boosting cashless transactions.
Dr Rajiv Lall, Founder MD & CEO, IDFC Bank, said, “IDFC Aadhaar Pay is a breakthrough in
technology for cashless payments. It will enable citizens in the deepest corners of the country to
participate in India’s digital movement, even those who do not own a phone but want to pay
digitally. People only need to have a bank account and their Aadhaar linked to it.”
“It is, thus far, the simplest way to pay as it does not require a customer to swipe debit cards,
remember passwords, or download apps. Importantly, there are no transaction fees for both
merchants and customers. IDFC Aadhaar Pay will accelerate the pace of growth for cashless
payments, giving wings to the government’s efforts towards digitization for inclusive growth,” he
added.
IDFC Aadhaar Pay went live last week at a fair price shop in Andhra Pradesh, inaugurated by Andhra
Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, and was subsequently introduced to merchants in
Delhi and Bihar.
The Bank began its nationwide roll-out on 25th December. Over the past three days, over 100 merchant outlets have been using IDFC Aadhaar Pay.
IDFC Aadhaar Pay is a solution made available on a merchant’s smartphone. A merchant is onboarded with IDFC Bank using e-KYC, within a short time span of an hour. An SMS link enables the
merchant to download the IDFC Aadhaar Pay app on any basic smartphone. This phone is connected
to a STQC certified Aadhaar biometric reader. A customer can pay the merchant with just two fields
in the IDFC Aadhaar Pay app – Bank name and Aadhaar number. The fingerprint is the password,
thus making it easy to use.
IDFC Aadhaar Pay is unique because it is does not compel a customer to use cards, download new
applications, remember passwords, account numbers, set up virtual payments addresses, type
detailed USSD codes to transfer money, or even have a phone to do cashless payments.
In rural and semi-urban areas, where customers need ‘assisted digital’ banking formats, IDFC Bank’s
Aadhaar Merchant solution is a perfect fit. The merchant benefits from the medium – as this being
a new AEPS payment railroad, it has no merchant discount rate (MDR) attached to it and can
provide the service to customers without having to pay the bank a transaction fee.
IDFC Bank has been leading on the financial inclusion front by using technology for banking the
unbanked. In one such effort, the Bank has placed over 2000 interoperable microATMs (Aadhaar
based) at kirana stores, chemists, dhabas, mandis, panchayat offices and other customer touch
points, to reduce time and distance taken to access a bank’s branch or an ATM. This initiative has
significantly enhanced convenience to citizens in deep rural and semi-urban locations across the
country