What Is UPI & What Are Its Benefits

UPI stands for Unified Payment Interface and as the name implies it acts as an interface for fund transfer between two bank accounts.

It is considered to be one of the advanced methods for payment processing among all the digital payments method. UPI is a mobile based payment system, and it is dedicatedly developed for Android smartphone users.

Sending or receiving money becomes very fast and easy with the use of this UPI app., You don’t need to wait in a long queue to send or receive money. You can easily send the money just like sending an SMS.

Also, you don’t need to provide your bank details to send or receive money through this UPI payments since it uses the VPA (Virtual Payment Address).

Benefits Of Using UPI (Unified Payment Interface):

Unified Payment Interface or UPI is the new way of money transfer. UPI has many advantages over the other traditional or older payment methods. As a result, it turns out to be a revolutionary innovation in the new Digital Payments market. Let have a look at some of the major benefits of UPI app here.

1. With UPI you can immediately transfer the funds to your recipient, and you don’t have to wait in a long queue to transfer the funds. Also, there are no restrictions on working hours and holidays. You can transfer money 24/7 on all days.

2. UPI eliminates the requirement of bank account details like the account number, IFSC codes, etc. while sending money to a recipient.

3. Using a single UPI app, you can send or receive money from different bank accounts.

4. The major benefit of UPI is that you don’t need to wait 24 hours to add a new payee. The payee will be added immediately, and you can transfer money to the new beneficiary instantly.

5. This new app made your online payment a more secured one. And regarding cash on delivery, you don’t need to pay the cash to the delivery boy as you can just approve the bill through your UPI app, and he will get the confirmation and receipt of your payment.

6. It is a real-time-based payment method, and the user interface is designed in a way that it is highly easy to use.

7. Sending money via UPI involves only a single step, rather than the multiple steps which usually associates with NEFT, RTGS and IMPS transfer.

8. Reduced transaction charges when compared to other modes of transfer.

These are the benefits of UPI (Unified Payment Interface). Although there are some disadvantages to UPI (20,000 INR transactional limit), these benefits make it one of the best method to send and receive money. So what are you waiting for? Start using the UPI payment service right away.

Does UPI Is Better Than IMPS?

If you would like to know whether using UPI Payments is better than IMPS, read below.

Everyone knows that using the IMPS payment method, you can transfer funds immediately but using UPI payments for transferring money have some advantages over it. They are:

1. To transfer money through IMPS, you need to know the bank account details of the recipient, whereas, in the case of UPI payments, you don’t need this actually. You can simply transfer the money using VPA (Virtual Payment Address).

2. Unlike IMPS, you can ask for the payments using UPI payments app. Also in just a single click, the amount would reflect immediately on your bank statement.

3. The other advantage of using UPI is that you don’t need to click through several screens for transferring money like in an IMPS transfer. Because of this unique feature, the success rate of UPI payments app has gone up to a considerably higher level.

4. You can’t pay for online shopping through the IMPS, but with UPI you can do that.

The above advantages prove that the new UPI payments app is far better than IMPS and any other older payment methods.

What Is The Charge For UPI Transfer?

Now the next question that pops up in your mind is, what will be the extra cost for UPI Money Transfer?

Actually, you will be surprised to hear that this service doesn’t come with an additional cost. Yes, you heard that right. Unlike other payment methods, you can transfer money via UPI by just paying 50 paise per transaction.

Let’s find out why transferring money via UPI (Unified Payment Interface) is the best option:

1. Transferring funds through the NEFT will cost about at least 2.5 rupees per transaction. And transferring through IMPS payments will have a minimum service charge of 5 rupees per transaction. But with UPI money transfer, you will have to pay just 50 paise per transaction.

2. Making payments via credit card will costs a lot more than NEFT and IMPS payments, but the seller always bears it. Now with UPI, the seller can pass the benefit of low cost of the transaction to you by reducing the price of the products.

List Of Banks That Are UPI Enable

UPI as a revolutionary method of fund transfer is facilitating the Digital India scheme. UPI is a mobile based fund transfer system, and the National Payments Corporation has developed it.

Any bank in India can use this new payment method either by integrating it into the existing bank apps or by developing a new dedicated UPI app. However, as of now only a few of the banks in India have enabled this new payment method.

The banks which facilitate the money transfer through UPI payments are the UPI enabled banks. These banks, in turn, will let their customers use the Unified Payment Interface either using a dedicated UPI app or using their existing Mobile banking app.

Here we have listed down the banks which are UPI enabled. Before that, you need to know the types of UPI enabled banks.

Types of UPI Enabled Banks:

There are three different types of UPI enabled banks. They are:

1. Banks with UPI apps:

As the name implies, these are the banks that have a dedicated UPI app. Most of the banks from the list given below will come under this category. These banks either have a new UPI app or it may have integrated its existing app with UPI. For example, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, PNB, and SBI have integrated UPI in their existing Mobile banking apps.

2. Banks without a UPI app:

Few banks like the Bank of Baroda, neither partnered with a third party app nor developed a new app for UPI payments. This kind of banks fall under this category and are called laggards.

3. Banks with third party UPI app:

Few banks like the Yes bank, have partnered with a third party UPI app and they use their system for UPI Money transfer.

List Of UPI Enabled Banks

Sr. No.	Bank Name	Type	Application Name	Handles
1	Airtel Payments Bank	PSP & Issuer	My Airtel -Online recharge, Pay Bill , Wallet, UPI	airtel,airtelpaymentsbank,apb
2	Allahabad Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Allbank UPI	allbank,albk,allahabadbank
3	Andhra Bank	PSP & Issuer	Bhim Andhra Bank One- UPI App	andb
4	Axis Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Axis Pay UPI App and Freecharge	axisgo,axis,pingpay,lime,axisbank,okaxis, abfspay
5	Bank of Baroda	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Baroda PAY	barodampay
6	Bank Of India	PSP & Issuer	BHIM BOI UPI	boi
7	Bank of Maharashtra	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Maha UPI	mahb
8	Canara Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Canara- eMPower	cnrb
9	Catholic Syrian Bank	PSP & Issuer	CSB UPI	csbpay,csbcash
10	Central Bank of India	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Cent UPI	centralbank,cbin,cboi
11	City Union Bank	PSP & Issuer	City Union Bank UPI	cub
12	DBS Digibank	PSP & Issuer	Digibank	dbs
13	DCB Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM DCB Bank UPI	@dcb, @dcbbank
14	Dena Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Dena UPI	denabank
15	Equitas Small Finance Bank	PSP & Issuer	Equitas UPI	equitas, purz
16	Federal Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM LOTZA UPI Payments APP	federal,fbl
17	Fino Payment Bank	PSP & Issuer	Fino Bpay	finobank
18	HDFC Bank	PSP & Issuer	HDFC Bank Mobilebanking and PayZapp	hdfcbank,payzapp,okhdfcbank,rajgovhdfcbank
19	HSBC	PSP & Issuer	HSBC Simple Pay	hsbc
20	ICICI Bank	PSP & Issuer	iMobile By ICICI Bank and Pockets	imobile, pockets,ezeepay,eazypay,icici,okicici
21	IDBI Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM PAyWIZ by IDBI Bank	idbi, idbibank
22	IDFC First Bank	PSP & Issuer	IDFC Bank BHIM UPI App	idfc,idfcbank,idfcnetc,cmsidfc
23	Indian Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Indian Bank UPI	indianbank,indbank,indianbk
24	Indian Overseas Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM IOB UPI	iob
25	IndusInd Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Indus Pay	indus
26	Jammu and Kashmir Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM JK Bank UPI	jkb
27	Janta Sahakari Bank Pune	PSP & Issuer	JetPay	jsbp
28	Jio Payments Bank	PSP & Issuer	MyJio	jio
29	Karnataka Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM KBL UPI	kbl,karb,kbl052
30	Karur Vysya Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM KVB Pay	kvb,karurvysyabank,kvbank
31	Kotak Mahindra Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM KOTAK Pay	kotak,kaypay,kmb,kmbl
32	Oriental Bank of Commerce	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Oriental Pay	obc
33	Paytm Payments Bank	PSP & Issuer	Paytm App	paytm
34	Punjab & Sind Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM PSB	psb
35	Punjab National Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM PNB	pnb
36	South Indian Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM SIB UPI	sib
37	Standard Chartered Bank	PSP & Issuer	SC UPI	srcb,sc,scmobile,scb,scbl
38	State Bank of India	PSP & Issuer	BHIM SBI Pay	sbi
39	Syndicate Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM SyndUPI	syndicate,syndbank,synd
40	The Lakshmi Vilas Bank Limited	PSP & Issuer	BHIM LVB UPAAY	lvb,lvbank
41	RBL Bank Ltd.	PSP & Issuer	BHIM RBL Pay and RBL Mobank 2.0	rbl
42	The Thane Janta Sahakari Bank Ltd(TJSB)	PSP & Issuer	Tranzapp –UPI	tjsb
43	UCO Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM UCO UPI	uco
44	Union Bank of India	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Union Bank UPI App	unionbankofindia,unionbank,uboi
45	United Bank of India	PSP & Issuer	BHIM United UPI Pay	ubi,united,utbi
46	Vijaya Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Vijaya UPI App	vjb,vijb,vijayabank
47	Yes Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM YES Pay	yesbank,yesbankltd
48	Bandhan Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM Bandhan UPI	bandhan
49	Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd	PSP & Issuer	BHIM DLB	dlb
50	AU Small Finance Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM AUPay	@aubank
51	Corporation Bank	PSP & Issuer	BHIM CORP UPI	@corp
52	ESAF Small Finance Bank	Issuer
53	Andhra Pragathi Grameena Bank	Issuer
54	Andhra Pragathi Grameena Vikas Bank	Issuer
55	Apna Sahakari Bank	Issuer
56	Assam Gramin VIkash Bank	Issuer
57	Baroda Gujarat Gramin Bank	Issuer
58	Baroda Rajasthan Khetriya Gramin Bank	Issuer
59	Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank	Issuer
60	Bassein Catholic Coop Bank	Issuer
61	Chaitanya Godavari Grameena Bank	Issuer
62	Chhattisgarh Rajya Gramin Bank	Issuer
63	Citibank Retail	Issuer
64	Dena Gujarat Gramin Bank	Issuer
65	Dombivali Nagrik Sahakari Bank	Issuer
66	G P Parsik Bank	Issuer
67	Jalgaona Janata Sahkari Bank	Issuer
68	Kallappanna Awade Ichalkaranji Janata Sahakari Bank Ltd.	Issuer
69	Karnataka vikas Gramin Bank	Issuer
70	Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank	Issuer
71	Kerala Gramin Bank	Issuer
72	Maharashtra Grameen Bank	Issuer
73	Manipur Rural Bank	Issuer
74	Meghalaya Rural Bank	Issuer
75	Mizoram Rural Bank	Issuer
76	NKGSB	Issuer
77	Pragathi Krishna Gramin Bank	Issuer
78	Prathama Bank	Issuer
79	Punjab and Maharastra Co. bank	Issuer
80	Purvanchal Bank	Issuer
81	Rajasthan Marudhara Gramin Bank	Issuer
82	Rajkot Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd	Issuer
83	Samruddhi Co-op bank ltd	Issuer
84	Saurashtra Gramin Bank	Issuer
85	Surat People Cooperative Bank	Issuer
86	Sutex Co operative Bank	Issuer
87	SVC Coperative Bank	Issuer
88	Tamilnad Mercantile Bank	Issuer
89	Telangana Gramin Bank	Issuer
90	Thane Bharat Sahakari Bank	Issuer
91	The Cosmos Co-Operative Bank LTD	Issuer
92	The Gujarat State Co-operative Bank Limited	Issuer
93	The Hasti Co-operative Bank Ltd	Issuer
94	The Kalyan Janta Sahkari Bank	Issuer
95	The Mahanagar Co-Op. Bank Ltd	Issuer
96	The Mehsana Urban Co-Operative Bank	Issuer
97	The Saraswat Co-Operative Bank	Issuer
98	The Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd Dharangaon	Issuer
99	The Varachha Co-op Bank Ltd.	Issuer
100	The Vishweshwar Sahakari Bank Ltd	Issuer
101	India Post Payment Bank	Issuer
102	Tripura Gramin Bank	Issuer
103	Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited (Web Collect)	Issuer
104	Uttarakhand Gramin Bank	Issuer
105	Vananchal Gramin Bank	Issuer
106	Vasai Vikas Co-op Bank Ltd	Issuer
107	Suco Souharda Sahakari bank	Issuer
108	Sarva Haryana Gramin Bank	Issuer
109	Deutsche Bank AG (Web Collect)	Issuer
110	Telangana State Co Operative Apex Bank	Issuer
111	The Andhra Pradesh state cooperative	Issuer
112	Maharashtra state co opp Bank	Issuer
113	Paschim Banga Gramin Bank	Issuer
114	Jana Small Finance Bank	Issuer
115	Suvarnayug Sahakari Bank Ltd	Issuer
116	Bhilwara Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd	Issuer
117	The Udaipur Mahila Urban Co-op Bank Ltd	Issuer
118	A. P Mahesh Bank	Issuer
119	Maratha Cooprative Bank Ltd	Issuer
120	The Vijay Co-operative Bank Ltd, Ahmedabad	Issuer
121	The Udaipur Mahila Samridhi Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd.	Issuer
122	Sarva UP Gramin Bank	Issuer
123	The Muslim Co-operative Bank Ltd.	Issuer
124	Hutatma Sahakari Bank Ltd	Issuer
125	Punjab Gramin Bank	Issuer
126	Himachal Pradesh Gramin Bank	Issuer
127	Ahmedabad Mercanatile Co-op Bank	Issuer
128	Nanital Bank Ltd	Issuer
129	Abhyudaya Co-op Bank	Issuer
130	The Ahmedabad District Coop bank	Issuer
131	Costal Local Area Bank Ltd	Issuer
132	Dakshin Bihar Gramin Bank	Issuer
133	Adarsh Cooperative Bank Ltd	Issuer
134	Suryoday Small Finance Bank Ltd	Issuer
135	Shree Kadi Nagarik Sahakari Bank Ltd	Issuer
136	J & K Grameen Bank	Issuer
137	The Municipal Co-op Bank	Issuer
138	Malad Sahakari Bank	Issuer
139	Baroda Central Co-operative Bank	Issuer
140	Fincare Small Finance Bank	Issuer
141	Kalupur Commercial Co-operative Bank	Issuer
142	NSDL Payments Bank	Issuer
143	Patan Nagrik Sahakari Bank Ltd	Issuer
144	Sarvodaya Commercial Co-operative Bank	Issuer
145	Sindhudurg Co-operative Bank	Issuer
146	Bharat Co-operative Bank	Issuer
147	Vikas Souharda Co-operative Bank Ltd.	Issuer
148	Shri Arihant Co-operative Bank Ltd.	Issuer
149	The Udaipur Urban Co-operative Bank ltd.	Issuer
150	Sandue Pattana Souharda Sahakari Bank	Issuer
151	Nutan Nagrik Sahakari Bank	Issuer
152	The SSK Co-operative Bank	Issuer
153	The Ahmednagar Merchants Co-operative Bank	Issuer
154	The Baramati Sahakari Bank Ltd.	Issuer
155	Shri Veershaiv Co-op Bank Ltd.	Issuer
156	The Sabarkantha district Central Coop Bank Ltd	Issuer
157	Priyadarshini Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd. Jalna	Issuer
158	The Satara Distric Central Co-operative Bank Ltd.	Issuer
159	The Kaira District Central Co-Op. Bank Ltd.	Issuer
160	The Banaskantha District Central Co-Op. Bank Ltd.	Issuer
161	The Visakhapatnam Co-operative Bank Ltd.	Issuer
162	Bhagini Nivedita Sahakari Bank Ltd,Pune	Issuer
163	The Anand Mercantile Co-Op. Bank Ltd.	Issuer
164	Citizen Co-operative Bank Ltd – Noida	Issuer
165	Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank	Issuer
166	Chartered Sahakari Bank Niyamitha	Issuer
167	Sterling Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd	Issuer
168	Capital Small Finance Bank	Issuer
169	Kokan Merchantile Co-Operative Bank Ltd	Issuer
170	Pune Cantonment Sahakari Bank Ltd	Issuer
171	Rani Channamma Mahila Sahakari Bank Belagavi	Issuer
172	The Gadchiroli District Central Co-operative Bank	Issuer
173	Fingrowth Co-operative Bank Ltd	Issuer
174	Shri Rajkot District Co-operative Bank Ltd	Issuer

Note: The banks with PSP will only be able to issue VPA.The banks given in the above list are the ones that are UPI enabled. The account holder of these banks can transfer funds through the UPI payments system.

List Of All UPI Apps

With more than 23 apps, UPI payment method becomes the most popular mode of money transfer now. Across the country, UPI can be accessed in 21 banks. But however, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Corporation Bank, Punjab Bank, Syndicate and Sind Bank are yet to make a move towards facilitating the cashless India.

Here is the list of all the UPI apps that are currently available to download from the Android play store.

1. SBI Pay

This app is for the State Bank of India users, and it can be downloaded on all the Android smartphones using Android 4.2 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.2 with a play store rating of 2.9 out of 5.

2. HDFC Bank Mobile Banking

This app is for the HDFC bank account users, and it can be used on all Android smartphones using Android 6.0 and above version. The latest version of the app varies from device to device, and it has a play store rating of 4.2 out of 5.

3. Axis Pay UPI App

This app is for the Axis bank account users, and the app can be used on all the Android smartphones using Android 4.1 and above version. The latest version of the app is 2.1.8, and it has a play store rating of 3.8 out of 5.

4. PNB UPI

This app is for the Punjab National Bank account users, and it supports all the Android devices using Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.1.6. This app has a play store rating of 3.9 out of 5.

5. Union Bank UPI App

This app is for the Union bank account users, and it can be used on all the Android smartphones running on Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0.43, and it has a play store rating of 3.8 out of 5.

6. United UPI

This app is for the United Bank Of India account users, and it can be downloaded on all the Android smartphones and tablets using Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0.49. This app has a play store rating of 3.9 out of 5.

7. Maha UPI

This app is for the Bank Of Maharashtra account holders, and you can use it on all the Android devices using Android 4.1 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0.3. The Maha UPI app has a play store rating of 3.9 out of 5.

8. PhonePe

PhonePe app is launched by Flipkart, and it enables users to enjoy UPI transfers without using the Android application of any particular bank. This app can be used on all the Android smartphones. PhonePe has a play store rating of 4.3 out of 5.

9. Canara Bank UPI

This app is for the Canara bank account users, and it can be used on all the Android smartphones using Android 4.1 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.9, and it has a play store rating of 3.8 out of 5.

10. Andhra Bank ONE

This app is for the Andhra bank account users. The app supports all the Android smartphones and tablets running on Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0. It has a play store rating of 3.7 out of 5.

11. UCO UPI

This app is for the UCO bank account users, and it can be used on all the Android smartphones using Android 3.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0.2, and it has a play store rating of 3.9 out of 5.

12. Vijaya UPI

This app is for the Vijaya bank account users, and it can be used on all the Android devices using Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0.43. The app has a play store rating of 3.9 out of 5.

13. SIB M-Pay

This app is for the South Indian bank account users, and it supports all the Android smartphones running on Android 2.3.3 and above version. The latest version of the app is 4.2.0, and it has a play store rating of 4.1 out of 5.

14. KBL SMARTz

This app is for the Karnataka bank account users, and it can be used on all the Android smartphones using Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.1.1, and it has a play store rating of 4.0 out of 5.

15. OBC UPI PSP

This app is for the Oriental Bank Of Commerce account holders, and it supports all Android smartphones and tablets running on Android 4.0.3 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.5. This app has a play store rating of 3.4 out of 5.

16. DCB Bank UPI

This app is for the DCB bank account holders, and it can be used on all the Android smartphones using Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0, and it has a play store rating of 4.2 out of 5.

17. Lotza UPI

This app is for the Federal bank account holders, and it supports all Android devices running on Android 4.0.3 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.4. This app has a play store rating of 4.1 out of 5.

18. TranZapp

This app is for the TJSB Sahakari Bank account holders, and it can be used on all the Android smartphones using Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0, and it has a play store rating of 3.7 out of 5.

19. CSB Mobile

This app is for the Catholic Syrian Bank account holders, and it supports all Android smartphones and tablets using Android 2.2 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.6, and it has a play store rating of 4.1 out of 5.

20. iMobile By ICICI Bank

This app is for the ICICI bank account holders, and it can be used on all Android devices. The app version varies from phone to phone, and it has a play store rating of 4.3 out of 5.

21. Allahabad Bank UPI

This app is for the Allahabad bank account holders, and it supports all the Android smartphones using Android 3.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 1.0.2, and it has a play store rating of 4.2 out of 5.

22. SC Mobile India (Breeze)

This app is for the Standard Chartered bank account users, and it can be used on all the Android smartphones running on Android 4.0 and above version. The latest version of the app is 2.6.8, and it has a play store rating of 3.8 out of 5.

23. IOBUPI

The IOBUPI app is for the Indian Overseas bank account users, and it can be used on all the Android smartphones running on Android 4.1 and later version. The latest version of the app is 1.0, and it has a play store rating of 3.7 out of 5.

Which UPI app to use?

As you can see from the list given above, there are plenty of UPI apps available in the Google Play Store. For example, you can see iMobile from ICICI bank, SBI pay from SBI Bank, Pockets, PNB UPI app, BHIM app, IOBUPI, etc., in the Google play store. So, are you confused which one to download and use?

Well if you are thinking that using your existing bank’s UPI app is the only available way for transferring funds via UPI, you are wrong. You can download and use any UPI app of your choice (from the list given above) for transferring funds. Regardless of the bank, try to choose the app which has a better interface for you to work with.

Even if it is not required, most of us will prefer to use the UPI app from our existing banks. If you are one of them, don’t restrict yourself from trying other apps as well. We recommend you to use the BHIM app because of its simple and easy to use interface.