Guide: How to use UPI and USSD to Send and Receive Money in Bank

Demonetization of  INR 1,000 and INR 500 currency notes has created more awareness towards digital payments. The government of India been pushing it since the day of the announcement, and there are two methods which you can use now, and even in the future. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) asked banks to release their UPI (Unified Payments Interface) based apps, and now there are many players in the market. In this post, we have shown how to use UPI USSD to Send and receive Money in a Bank account.

Guide: How to use UPI and USSD to Send and Receive Money in Bank

What is UPI?

UPI apps are based on Immediate Payment Service technology and don’t require the user to fill details like full name, bank name, branch, and IFSC code. All you need is just the Virtual Payment Address (VPA) to transfer funds. It is similar to having an email address.

UPI Based Apps Features and Requirement

To use UPI, you will need to use an app. It works only on smartphones and requires an internet connection, unlike UUSD based payments, which we will talk about post this.

The good thing is that there are tons of UPI based Apps now in the play store, and if you plan to use one, here is the list of standard features, followed by the requirement.

  • Make payments of utility bills such as gas, electricity, telephone, water, etc., recharge your mobile and refill DTH service.
  • Send money to someone else’s bank account. Similar to IMPS, UPI apps allow users to send transactions to happen 24/7/365.
  • The maximum transaction limit at a time is INR 1,00,000, and the minimum amount that can be transferred is INR 50 only. It may vary from bank to bank as well.

Google Pay is the simplest way to send and receive money using BHIM or UPI. While you can use any app, the interface is the simplest on Google Pay. We strongly suggest you use this app.

Requirements to use UPI based apps:

  • You need to have an active bank account.
  • Your mobile number should be registered for Phone Banking, all transaction-related messages, and a one-time password.
  • You need to have a smartphone with 2G, 3G, or 4G network connection.

The Google Pay app will get all the details from your registered phone number with the bank.

How to Register for UPI with the Bank Account?

First of all, you need to go to the Google Play Store and download the Google Pay or any other UPI app of your bank. If you are downloading the UPI app of your bank, make sure to find the official app. If you have any confusion, use the Google Pay or Tez app.

1] One the app is installed into your phone, launch it. Then enter your registered mobile number to create a 4-digit security PIN. The PIN would always be required for opening the app and doing transactions.

2] The first time when you tap on the UPI, it asks you to create a VPA (virtual private address) or UPI ID, which stands for a virtual payment address. Select any of the suggested options and create the VPA for the app. A VPA could be your name or the mobile number, followed by the domain name of the app.

registeration-upi

3] Once you create the VPA or UPI ID and move to the next screen, you will be asked to link your bank account. Just select the bank name, and automatically your details will be fetched through the mobile number.

How to Send and Receive money using UPI or Google Pay?

Sending and receiving money through the UPI app is very easy, but there is a condition that the recipient should also have the UPI ID. Most of the latest UPI apps, including Google Pay, now allow you to transfer to banks directly if you have the account number, IFSC code, etc.

From this point, I am using Google Pay as a reference. Most of the apps have a similar interface, so make sure to figure out the options.

Google Pay offers multiple ways to transfer money. It is not restricted to Google Pay users. When you launch the app, tap on New, and then you can choose the method to send money. It includes

  • Phone Number
  • UPI ID
  • QR code
  • Self-transfer

There are more options like Bill Recharge, Bank transfer, but I am skipping them as of now.

Send Money  via Google Pay or UPI

If you want to transfer funds, then tap on New and choose one of the options. You can then click on either Pay or Request for money. When sending money, you will have to verify using your UPI password.

Receive Money via Google Pay or UPI

If you want to receive payment from anyone, then you need to tap on the request for money and enter the amount. The person on the other side will receive the request in the app. He can choose to respond and send you the money, just like how one can send money.

If the person on the other side is not using Google Pay, then share your UPI Id with the person. He can then use any app and send you the money. When the payment is made, you should receive SMS confirmation.

Using QR Code or UPI ID

The third option is to scan a QR code or enter UPI Id. Tap on New >  UPI ID or  Scan QR code. It can be used at a shopping mall, restaurant, or a store where the UPI payments are accepted.

Once the UPI id is verified, which you had entered or picked by scanning the QR Code,  enter the amount and confirm to make the payment. It is a better option than carrying a lot of cash all the time or using debit or credit cards.

Self Transfer

If you want to transfer money between your account using Google Pay, this option is handy. Make sure first to add your bank account. Once done, you can click on self-transfer, select source, and destination bank, and then send the money.

How to send money without Internet

India has around 220 million smartphone users, and we get good internet connectivity in cities. Still, there is a huge amount those people who live in rural areas and use feature phones. There should be an option for them to perform cashless transactions because the ban on INR 1000 and 500 has affected their lives as well, and most of them, especially farmers, are running out of cash for the past few days.

USSD-based mobile banking is a solution for those users who don’t use smartphones and cannot download the UPI app. This service can be proved to be useful for those who have smartphones too when they go out of the range of internet connectivity, or their data pack gets finished.

What is USSD?

USSD stands for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data and has been developed by the National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP). It is an interface between the telecom operator and your bank. Similar to your regular phone calls and SMS, USSD utilizes the GSM network to transfer the information and can work with a normal black and white phone, feature phone, and a smartphone.

USSD based Payment system is called as National Unified USSD Payments. As of now, it works only on MTNL & BSNL.

Regional Language Support in USSD Mobile Banking

Since the service has been introduced with a mind-set to encourage people in rural areas for mobile banking, USSD service is available in 11 regional languages. It can be accessed by a non-English speaker easily by using the shortcode. We have listed the codes for the respective languages below.

  • Hindi – *99*22#
  • Punjabi – *99*30#
  • Marathi – *99*28#
  • Gujarati  – *99*27#
  • Bengali – *99*29#
  • Oriya – *99*32#
  • Assamese – *99*31#
  • Kannada – *99*26#
  • Malayalam – *99*25#
  • Tamil –  *99*23#
  • Telugu – *99*24#

USSD Banking Daily Transaction Limit and Charges

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already made it clear that the users can send a minimum amount of INR 1 and a maximum of INR 5,000 per transaction through USSD service.

The service is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week at a charge of NR 0.50 per transaction, which is either deducted from your SIM card balance or added to your frees. As of now, this is waived off till 31st December.

How to use USSD codes?

The basic necessity for using the USSD service is having a mobile phone and a bank account. If you don’t have a bank account, then please visit the nearest bank with a Photo ID/Address proof such as Adhaar Card or Voter ID, and the bank representative will help you to open an account in their branch within few minutes.

It is also necessary to register the mobile number with the bank account, and in case you already have an account, the mobile number is not registered. You need to fill a form on the branch of your bank and submit the request to link your account with your mobile number. After that, the bank will issue a seven-digit Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) number along with the MPIN, which is a four-digit PIN, and needs to change by the customer after receiving it.

Once you receive the MMID and change your MPIN, you can begin with the process of using USSD codes.

To begin with the process, simply dial *99# by pressing the buttons of their phone (like we type the messages).

It will ask you type the first three letters of your bank’s name or first four letters of the bank’s IFSC code, and there is another option of putting the two digits numeric bank code too. Example: if you account in State Bank of India, then you can either type SBI as the first three letters or SBIN as the IFSC code and tap on Send.

ussd-enter-bank-details

Your account details and phone number will be verified, and a sub-menu will appear on the screen with multiple options such as:

  1. Account Balance
  2. Mini Statement
  3. Send Money Using MMID
  4. Send Money Using IFSC
  5. Show MMID
  6. Change MPIN

Type the number as per your choice and tap on Send. For Example, type 1 and press send to check the account balance.

ussd-send-money

How to Transfer Money via USSD?

On the above-mentioned sub-menu screen, you have the third option to send money via MMID, type 3, and tap Send to transfer funds via USSD.

  • It will ask you to enter the mobile number of the recipient, do that and tap Send
  • On next screen, you need to enter the MMID of the recipient and tap Send
  • After that enter the amount and if you want to add remarks that separate it by putting a space between the amount and remark and tap Send
  • In the end, you need to enter your MPIN, and the last four digits of your bank account (space should separate both) and tap Send. Once the payment gets authorized, the amount will be transferred to the beneficiary.

Check the Video Below:

How to Send Money using USSD Code using Any Phone

Let us inform our viewers that you need to always respond to the USSD notification within 10 seconds to avoid the cancellation of the transaction process. It is also possible that you may receive an error after the fifth steps stating “External Application Down” if that happens to try after some time.