Transferring money without internet seems to be a dream as in today’s world we need to have internet for any digital payment. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikant Das announced a new scheme on Friday 8th October for offline mode on retail digital payments.

As per the scheme, payment system operators banks (PSO) and non-banks may offer digital payments offline which means that no internet connection will be required for making payments. The RBI also said that the absence of internet connectivity is a major impediment for adoption of digital payments. If there are options available for making offline payments, it could boost the adoption of digital payments. The Reserve Bank has been encouraging entities to develop offline payment solutions.

People have been using PayTM, PhonePe and Google Pay for quite some time now. The issue is that of bad internet connection or no internet in remote areas. Sources also say that to avoid the issue of payment via internet, a one-time registration needs to be completed on the BHIM app. After doing this one can avail the offline transaction service through *99# service which was introduced by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India).

Here is the step by step guide to avail offline UPI payment services:

• Type *99# on your phone.
• Press Call button.
• The screen shows 7 options after this: (1) Send Money, (2) Request Money, (3) Check Balance, (4)  My Profile, (5) Pending Requests, (6) Transactions, (7) UPI PIN
• To send money, you need to press 1. This allows you to transfer money using your mobile number, UPI or bank account number and IFSC code.
• After picking up the desired option, you need to enter the mobile number of the beneficiary or bank details or the UPI ID.
• After this, enter the amount.
• Then enter your UPI pin and send money.

(sources:news18 and GN)