The Unified Payments Interface was launched in which year?
- A.2010
- B.2012
- C.2016
- D.2019
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, 2016. UPI was launched by NPCI in 2016, and the BHIM application followed in December of the same year, which is why 2016 is the single most asked year in this topic. Option A is wrong because 2010 is the year of IMPS, the instant transfer service on which UPI was later built. Option B is wrong because 2012 belongs to RuPay, the domestic card network. Option D is wrong because 2019 is the year NEFT became available at all hours and the National Common Mobility Card was launched, not the year of UPI. A clean timeline answers a whole family of questions: the National Financial Switch taken over in 2009, IMPS in 2010, RuPay in 2012, UPI and BHIM in 2016, e-RUPI in 2021 and UPI 123PAY in 2022. Note also that UPI was launched as a pilot first and reached ordinary users through bank apps in the same year.
Read the full article: NPCI, UPI and RuPay: Retail Payment Systems of India
Practice Questions
View allThe National Payments Corporation of India was incorporated in which year?
- A.2005
- B.2008
- C.2012
- D.2016
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NPCI was incorporated in 2008 as a not for profit company under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 to act as the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in India, and it began by taking over the National Financial Switch the following year.
Read the full explanation →NPCI was promoted by the Reserve Bank of India along with which other body?
- A.Securities and Exchange Board of India
- B.Indian Banks Association
- C.NITI Aayog
- D.Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
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NPCI was set up on the initiative of the Reserve Bank of India together with the Indian Banks Association, and ten core promoter banks held its first shareholding, which is why it is owned by the banking industry rather than by the government.
Read the full explanation →UPI was built as a layer on top of which existing payment system?
- A.RTGS
- B.NEFT
- C.IMPS
- D.NACH
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The Immediate Payment Service, launched in 2010, already moved money between banks instantly at every hour, and UPI uses that rail while adding the virtual payment address, interoperable applications and single click authentication.
Read the full explanation →In UPI, a virtual payment address is used so that the payer does not have to share which details?
- A.The bank account number and IFSC
- B.The Aadhaar number
- C.The PAN
- D.The mobile handset number
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A virtual payment address takes the form of a name followed by a bank handle and acts as a pointer to the underlying account, so a payment can be made or collected without revealing the account number or the branch code.
Read the full explanation →RuPay is best described as:
- A.A mobile wallet run by the Reserve Bank
- B.India's domestic card payment network
- C.A digital currency issued by the RBI
- D.An international remittance service
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RuPay was launched by NPCI in 2012 so that debit and credit card transactions between Indian cardholders and Indian merchants are authorised and settled within the country instead of being switched abroad, and its name joins Rupee with Payment.
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