BHIM Aadhaar App – Thumbprint transactions

April 18, 2017 Finance Talk Valli Sarvani No comments

Every day the path to India embracing digital finance takes new steps. After the notes demonetization move, usage of cards has increased.

However it seems that soon there won’t be a need for credit or debit cards either. If you are thinking that this has something to do with installing an app in your smartphones, you are wrong. This is a method of going cashless that doesn’t even require a smartphone from customers to conduct retail transactions.

It is the new BHIM-Aadhaar app launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This app is for retailers and merchants who are either individuals or sole proprietors. It is not for corporate merchants.

The BHIM Aadhaar app can be easily downloaded by the merchant for both iOS and Android. It works based on biometrics of the user.

So, simply put, the customer just needs his/her thumb impression to make a payment. This revolutionary system of payment is already being called as the future of retail transactions.

In India, there are 40 crore people who’s bank accounts are linked to their Aadhaar. The Aadhaar details have the thumbprint of a person. This way, the app can easily find out who the customer is.

The customer does not need to remember any PIN details or account numbers for this. They just need to give their thumbprint for the app to scan.

Merchants and sole proprietors need a fingerprint scanners to allow this feature. After the customer places their thumb on the scanner, the app automatically transfers the necessary funds from the customer to merchant without any other hassle.

As part of this initiative, 30 banks are participating. Some of them are Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Axis Bank, Corporation Bank, Dena Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC Bank and more.

More banks will soon come into the initiative.

The app has already been downloaded 1.9 crore times from here.

Image Credit: Unknown author / CC BY-SA 4.0