Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePay to be interoperable by April 2022

According to a notification released by the RBI on Wednesday, Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePay should enable interoperability for their users by March 31, 2022. With this, one can transfer money directly from one digital wallet (e.g. Paytm) to another digital wallet (e.g. Google Pay).

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed Google Pay, Paytm and PhonePay among others to enable interoperability for their users.

According to a notification released by the RBI on Wednesday, this feature should be made available for their full-KYC customers by March 31, 2022.

“It shall be mandatory for Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) issuers to give the holders of full-KYC PPIs interoperability through authorised card networks,” the RBI notification said on Wednesday.

Interoperability, in simple terms, means that customers who have completed full know your customer (KYC) will be able to transfer funds to beneficiaries of other PPIs or banks. So from wallet service provider like Paytm you can transfer money to PhonePay and vice-versa.

The move is aimed at bringing the non-bank (prepaid payment instruments) PPI issuers (popularly known as digital or mobile wallets) at par with traditional bank accounts in terms of services offered.

Besides, the RBI also permitted cash withdrawals from non-bank wallets within certain limits.

The RBI has set maximum limit of Rs 2,000 per transaction with an overall limit of Rs 10,000 per month per PPI.

What this means is that cash withdrawal points would substantially increase from the limited option available now in the form of bank ATMs and point of sale (PoS) terminals.

(With Agency Inputs)