Payments

ManavSamhita is ashamed of calling himself a " #Payments #Analyst ".

One of his responsibilities is to ensure proper Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures are in place during banking transactions.

Those who don't know what's #MoneyLaundering- it's a method to conceal the source of payment using layering and use it for the purposes other than portrayed; generally prohibited by laws.

Here's what happened.

Manav's wife, Maansi shops using his credit card. The lazy and busy Manav forgets about the transaction. Maansi returns most of the items and gets refund in App wallet, instead of in credit card(original method). She spends the accumulated money on items that Manav prohibits her from buying using his card. And he keeps wondering about the source of funds!

This time Manav accidentally checked his credit card bill and found out about the missing refunds.

That's when Maansi "Payments-AML-Ignorant-Wife" revealed her secret to her "Boasting-Payments-Enthusiast" husband.

#Lesson: "To prevent crime, don't read books but think like a criminal. Use common sense and look around with open eyes".

And Manav typed this lesson on the mobile Maansi gifted him with the laundered money!

P.S. #Concocted_Story_Inspired_By_True_Events

#SwapnilThakur #originals

e-Rupi : The What, How and Why of the new payments solutions

What is e-RUPI?

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in association with Department of Financial Services (DFS), National Health Authority (NHA), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), and partner banks, has launched an innovative digital solution – ‘e-RUPI’.

e-RUPI is a one-time use digital solution to facilitate cashless payment which is person & purpose specific solutions for various services like COVID Vaccine, donations, corporate gift vouchers, etc.

How it works:

e-RUPI can be issued only by banks authorized by RBI to issue Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) and who are participating as Payment Service Providers (PSP) in the UPI ecosystem (referred hereunder as the “Issuer”).

Maximum limit of each e-RUPI shall not exceed INR 10,000 or as defined by regulator.

The users of this seamless one-time payment mechanism will be able to redeem the voucher without a card, digital payments app or internet banking access, at the merchants accepting e-RUPI. e-RUPI would be shared with the beneficiaries for a specific purpose or activity by organizations or Government via SMS or QR code.

e-RUPI shall be permitted to be redeemed only for the purchase of goods and services from designated merchant bearing valid Merchant Category Code (MCC), as may be defined by the Issuer at the time of issuance of e-RUPI. e-RUPI shall not be permitted for cash out or cash back on redemption.

This contactless e-RUPI is easy, safe and secure as it keeps the details of the beneficiaries completely confidential. The entire transaction process through this voucher is relatively faster and at the same time reliable, as the required amount is already stored in the voucher.

Upto 10 e-RUPI vouchers can be issued for one programme on single mobile number / per unique beneficiary; the requirement shall be configurable as per the Scheme requirements

Benefits for Corporates

• Corporates can enable well-being of their employees

• End to end digital transaction and doesn’t require any physical issuance hence leading to cost reduction

• Voucher redemption can be tracked by the issuer

• Quick, safe & contactless voucher distribution

Benefits for Hospitals

• Easy & Secure - Voucher is authorized via a verification code

• Hassle free & Contactless payment collection - Handling of cash or cards is not required

• Quick redemption process - The voucher can be redeemed in a few steps and lesser decline due to pre-blocked amount

Benefits to the Consumer

• Contactless - Beneficiary should not carry a print out of the voucher

• Easy redemption - 2 step redemption process

• Safe and Secure - Beneficiary doesn’t need to share personal details while redemption hence privacy is maintained

• No digital or bank presence required - Consumer redeeming the voucher need not have a digital payment app or a bank account.

Why do we need it:

To ensure subsidy/funds/reimbursements are used for the purpose for which it was issued. For example, the funds alloted for buying masks are used for the same purpose by redeeming it at the approved point of contacts, by the intended beneficiary only. No opportunity of scam either by middleman, beneficiary or issuer.

Constraints:

1. As an individual, you can not transfer money through e-Rupi.

2. A corporate, government body can issue an e-Rupi voucher for a particular purpose. An individual can not issue it.

3. It can be redeemed against the purpose for which it was issued and at the institutions authorized for accepting it. For example a vaccination voucher issued by government under free vaccination scheme can be redeemed only at the hospitals and not at the fertilizer shop for which the beneficiary might be receiving the subsidy from government in the form of e-Rupi voucher only.

How is an e-RUPI voucher different from other online payment applications?

Consider below scenarios:

1. Your employer has a reimbursement policy for certain expenses like hotel stay, food, fuel

2. Government provide reimbursement to people in villages if they build toilets

3. Government agrees to pay for your medical expenses

With existing modes like Internet banking, Mobile Wallets, Apps etc below things may happen :

1. Beneficiary spends a part of money for actual cause, the remaining he keeps with himself or spends on other needs and produce inflated bills for reimbursement

2. The Beneficiary uses the entire money for different purchases and produces fake bills for reimbursement

3. The intermediary has an opportunity to keep a part of funds and distribute a small fraction or nothing at all to the intended beneficiaries

With e-RUPI voucher:

1. No need of intermediary, direct sender to receiver transfer. So, entire amount can reach the beneficiary and gets spent on what it is meant to.

2. Vouchers can't be used for the purposes other than for which it is issued. For example, the vaccine voucher can't be used for other medicine or for buying sugar.

3. Neither beneficiary nor issuer or their agents can do any corruption. So, with e-RUPI, we headed one step closer to the corruption free system.

Source: NPCI

How do I track an international money wire transfer between bank accounts, if I do not work at a bank but have a wire transfer/SWIFT copy?

SWIFT has come up with an initiative called SWIFT GPI (Global Payment Innovation). It has four benefits -

1. Transparency of fees

2. Speed

3. Transparency of foreign exchange

4. Real time tracking (like FedEx)

So, every wire transfer will have a Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference (UETR) which will be carried forward from initiating bank to intermediary banks to beneficiary bank.

This UETR remains unique as the name suggests which is used for tracking.

SWIFT has developed a tracker, where banks can log in and input this UETR to see which bank is holding the payment, what fees is charged etc.

Banks are building an internal communication mode using this tracker where their customers will be able to input this UETR and find out the details of their wire transfer whether it's in process, completed or rejected. And other details (4 points above).

Access to tracker needs millions of dollars worth membership fees for banks. Almost 45 banks have gone live in 195 corridors as of June 2018.

And, if your bank is still not on GPI, or hasn't opened this channel for retail customers, then the traditional method is to call up the bank//call center and provide them the reference present on the copy you received and they will be able to confirm whether the payment has left the bank or not.

Hope this helps. Have a great day!