110 crore Indians can go cashless as government gets ready to launch ‘Aadhaar Pay’
A transaction taking place via Aadhaar Pay (representational). Picture Courtesy: inspectspot.com
The government will soon launch the Aadhaar Pay service that will allow people to make and receive payments using their Aadhaar number and biometric scan.
Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad discussed the plan while speaking to reporters earlier today.
“We are going to start Aadhaar Pay. With this people will not require to carry their phone for payments. They can visit any merchant, share their Aadhaar number and verify themselves using biometrics to pay and receive money,” Prasad said.
At present, 14 banks have come on board for Aadhaar Pay and the service will be launched soon, he told reporters.
“We are in talks with other banks too. The service will be launched very soon,” Prasad stated.
Meanwhile, the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), the common platform for making quick payments using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), was also been integrated with Aadhaar Enabled Payment System on Thursday.
Around 111 crore people in the country have Aadhaar numbers. “There are 49 crore bank accounts linked to Aadhaar. Every month 2 crore accounts are being seeded with Aadhaar,” Prasad added.
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