UIDAI’s Aadhaar National Identity Project was launched with a vision to bring Indian citizens under a single fold and also as an aid for financial inclusion. Aadhaar number is a 12 digit unique number obtained by a resident of India containing all the details of an individual. Aadhaar enrollment has opened a new opportunity as to how we function as a Nation. It has enabled the government to collect bio-metric and Residential data of all the individuals enrolled under Aadhaar. Aadhaar was primarily used as a means to authenticate identity of an individual and it still continues as to be a prime document for the proof of identity. Aadhaar ecosystem is designed to eliminate duplicate identities and allow residents to establish their identity anywhere in India thereby enabling greater access to multiple services. Also facilitating a paperless and electronic identity verification platform, this allows a resident to establish his/ her identity at a service provider.
Linking bank account(s) to Aadhaar was a stepping stone towards Digital Banking and Cashless economy in India. To achieve this UIDAI with collaboration with National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) and RBI launched Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) that allows banking transaction on the basis of Aadhaar. AEPS allows Banks and Business Correspondents (BCs) to authorize financial transactions of a customer using biometric data.
AEPS was created with a vision to enable banking to the unbanked regions of India. It allows to perform transaction on various platforms like – ATMs that are enabled with bio-metric Scanner, Micro ATM devices with inbuilt Printer and bio-metric scanner to authenticate user identity. AEPS allows customer to perform basic banking transactions like – Balance Enquiry, Cash Deposit & Withdrawal, Payments and Fund Transfer. In future Aadhaar Payment Systems can also be integrated at local stores to enable digital payment.
Further to the launch of the Aadhaar Payment System, Aadhaar Pay App was launched to change the way we perform day to day monitory transaction. It was developed to perform transaction with the help of a mobile phone app. The Aadhaar Pay App also allows merchants to accept payments. To enable this, the merchant has to register himself with the bank, provide e-KYC details and download the app through the provided link and install the app. The app interacts with a STQC (Standardization Testing and Quality Certification Directorate) certified bio-metric scanners that is separately attached to a mobile phone in order to process payments.
AEPS solution is transforming the way we are banking today by enabling banks to use Business Correspondent or Agent Banking model to reach its customers at remote location with added layer of bio-metric security. It plays a very important role in converting India into a Cashless Economy by pushing the use of Digital Transaction. AEPS brings transparency in the transaction and helps govt. to monitor it for suspicious transactions.