India cenbank expects to launch interoperable payment system for internet banking in 2024

By Swati Bhat

MUMBAI (Reuters) -India's central bank expects to launch interoperability of digital payment systems for internet banking in 2024 to enable faster fund settlements for merchants, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday.

"... we have given approval for implementing such an interoperable system to NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd (NBBL)," Das said.

"We expect the launch of this interoperable payment system for internet banking during the current calendar year."

Currently, internet banking transactions processed through Payment Aggregators (PAs) are not interoperable, implying that a bank is required to separately integrate with each PA of different online merchants.

Given the multiple number of payment aggregators, it is difficult for each bank to integrate with every PA, Das said.

Moreover, due to the absence of a common payment system and a set of rules for these transactions, there are delays in actual receipt of payments by merchants and increased settlement risks, he added.

(Reporting by Swati Bhat; Writing by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)