Netbanking 2.0: NBBL's new switch may take off in 4 mths

NPCI Bharat BillPay (NBBL) is working on a new system (switch) to make netbanking easier for customers.

- AJINKYA KAWALE Mumbai, 23 April

NPCI Bharat BillPay (NBBL) is working on a new system (switch) to make netbanking easier for customers. The project, called Netbanking 2.0, which is being tested by NBBL, is expected to go live within the next three to four months, said sources in the know.

This new switch will not leverage any existing payment system, such as IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) technology, but will focus on creating a new system altogether.

NBBL is a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the body that runs the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). It operates the bill payment system Bharat Connect (Bharat Bill Payment System).

For this, NBBL has onboarded multiple ecosystem stakeholders such as banks and payment aggregators.

Four major banks and about six to eight payment aggregators are part of the current pilots of the payments system. NBBL is expecting to complete end-to-end testing of the new switch by the middle of May. "Netbanking 2.0 will be a new payments system, enabling banks, payment aggregators, and merchants alike. It will facilitate online merchants that accept netbanking as a payment instrument today, with a better customer experience," Noopur Chaturvedi, managing director and chief executive officer, NBBL, told Business Standard.