Is PM Modi's BHIM app the best thing to happen to India since demonetisation?
Narendra Modi’s answer to all the woes faced by the Indian people due to demonetisation comes in the form of an app (an obvious thing, considering the prime minister’s push for Digital India). While companies like Paytm and Freecharge have been enjoying the cash vacuum and the lack of a government-chhaap digital payment system in the 50-day-period that Modi had asked of his voters, that is now likely to change.
BHIM or Bharat Interface for Money, named after Dr BR Ambedkar, is the latest in a slew of measures announced by the government to promote cashless transactions. It’s a simple clutter-free app with a design that other UPI-based apps should look up to. And while it hasn’t quite reached peak popularity, there have so far, been 1,000,000 - 5,000,000 downloads of the app, according to Google Play.
So, is it any good?
The BHIM app is fairly easy to use. All you need to do is register your bank account with BHIM, and set up a UPI PIN for the bank account, and voila! You can send to or receive from friends, family and customers through a mobile number or payment address. Money can also be sent to non UPI supported banks using IFSC and MMID.
For now, the app has 32 public and private sector banks on it, including Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank etc. And if you are well versed with the use of UPI based banking apps, BHIM will be piece of cake for you.
BHIM lets you make transactions using UPI, mobile banking, QR codes and Aadhaar based payments. What makes BHIM stand out from any other UPI based app, net banking apps or mobile wallets like Paytm or Freecharge, is the fact that one does not need a high-end smartphone to use it. In fact, one does not need a smartphone at all.
You can use the BHIM services from any and every feature phone that is present in the market. All you need to do is dial *99# (A USSD code) on your registered phone. With number key options, you can then check your balance, send money, request for money and do just about everything that the app offers.
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| Photo: Indiatoday.in |
Comparisons to Paytm
The important thing to remember here is that unlike Paytm, BHIM is not a mobile wallet. Paytm is a widely used app and is only so because of its ease-of-use. But BHIM, with its rather stripped-down-to-bare-minimums design, makes its usability a breeze.
It is thus fair to suggest that BHIM is easier to use than Paytm. Paytm, by the virtue of being a mobile wallet, requires you to add money to it. And while the app has several good features, it can become confusing to a novice user. BHIM, on the other hand, thanks to fact that most banks in India are UPI-enabled, requires you to only have a UPI registered phone number to send or receive money.
And of course, when you have the prime minister’s seal of approval on it (especially when the prime minister is has that much of mass support, despite demonetisation), the public’s perception of reliability increases manifold. Something that Paytm will have a hard time catching up with.
Best way 4 merchants 2 grow & prosper! pic.twitter.com/t33o7MtCR5
— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) January 3, 2017
#Bhim App is a Rockstar! It's sterling performance since its launch on 30th Dec. pic.twitter.com/qsWpIcIvz5
— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) January 3, 2017
And since BHIM is a UPI app, in case of a faulty transaction or error, one can always contact the bank in question, unlike Paytm or any other mobile wallet app, where one has to argue with customer care executives for hours at end.
So, all things considered, BHIM, if properly marketed, is likely to drive out Paytm, though not any time soon.
BHIM definitely is a game-changer, and thanks to its ease of use and beyond-smartphones accessibility, it is arguably, the best solution the Modi government has come up with so far, to tackle the cashlessness it brought upon people.