The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is reportedly planning to transform its Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app into a separate entity, media reports said. The decision is expected to help the firm expand its presence in the digital payments industry in India.
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According to a report by Business Standard, anonymous industry sources said that NPCI is looking to make BHIM a standalone subsidiary unit. The new entity will be headed by Lalitha Nataraj, who has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the report noted. Earlier, Nataraj worked with IDFC First Bank and ICICI Bank.
Citing a source, the report said, “The plan is to establish BHIM as a separate entity with a renewed focus on expanding its reach as a payments application.” This decision has received backing from both the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as both have been pushing to promote the app, the report added.
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ABP Live couldn’t independently verify the report and the NPCI has not given any official comment on the matter yet.
Currently, the United Payments Interface (UPI) market in the country is dominated by PhonePe and Google Pay. PhonePe is backed by Walmart. Both apps account for about 85 per cent of the overall UPI transactions in the country. This measure is being taken to address the risk of concentration in the domestic UPI market.
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Meanwhile, BHIM’s share in the market remains minimal, with just 22.72 million transactions conducted via the app in June. This accounted for just 0.16 per cent of the overall UPI volumes. Therefore, the NPCI is taking up this decision in an attempt to reduce the reliance on foreign players in the market and strengthen the domestic brand.
Notably, BHIM was launched earlier in 2016 by PM Narendra Modi. The app will continue to operate under the NPCI brand, but it will see some operational changes. Once the app becomes a separate entity, it will have individual balance sheets, financial statements, and other structures, the report added.
