India’s largest public-sector lender, State Bank of India, has now increased the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) transaction limit to Rs 5 lakh according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.
New Rules For IMPS Transactions
Prior to this, RBI has raised the IMPS transaction limit to Rs 5 lakh from earlier Rs 2 lakh in its October policy.
Regarding this new change, SBI said that it will charge Rs 20 plus GST on IMPS transactions above Rs 2 lakh till Rs 5 lakh, in a statement.
Basically, IMPS provides a robust and real-time fund transfer.
It offers an instant, 24X7, interbank electronic fund transfer service which can be accessed on multiple channels including mobile, internet, ATM, SMS.
It also allows transferring of funds instantly within banks across India which is not only safe but also economical.
At present, IMPS has 639 members live which includes banks and PPIs.
What Are The Objectives Of IMPS Transactions?
- The aim is to enable bank customers to use mobile instruments as a channel for accessing their bank accounts and remitting funds.
- The objective is to make payments in simpler ways with just the use of the mobile number of the beneficiary.
- The move will also sub-serve the goal of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as it wants the electronification of retail payments.
- Its goal is to facilitate mobile payment systems which are already introduced in India with the Reserve Bank of India Mobile Payment Guidelines 2008 to be interoperable across banks and mobile operators in a safe and secured manner.
- It aims to build the foundation for a full range of mobile-based Banking services in the country.
At present, several Banks levy the charge for customers using IMPS transactions.
Although, some of them offer IMPS free of cost depending on the type of account held by the customers or using IMPS via Internet banking.