Indigenous digital payments app BHIM launched on iOS platform

Indigenous digital payments app BHIM, which the government has developed for fast and secure cashless transactions, was on Saturday launched on the iOS platform.

“The much awaited #BHIM for iOS is now available on the AppStore. Apple users, download #BHIM now! #ItPaystoBHIM,” Niti Aayog on Saturday said in a tweet.

The Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) was available on Android platform.

On December 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the app for fast and secure cashless transactions using mobile phones.

BHIM is a platform designed to make payment through UPI and USSD modes simpler.

Last month, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the number of downloads for BHIM app has crossed 1 crore mark.

The BHIM app downloads which have shot up in a matter of a few days “shows how India is changing” with regard to adoption of digital payments and cashless transactions, the Minister had pointed out.

Digital payment channels like mobile wallets, USSD and RuPay have seen massive uptake and rise in transactions post demonetisation.

According to government data, the number of transactions on USSD (mobile short code message used mainly for banking services on feature phone) saw a whopping 5,135 per cent jump, from 97 such deals a day on November 8 to 5,078 on December 25.

UPI transactions—which allows users to transfer funds from one bank account to another using a smartphone—grew 1,342 per cent, from 3,721 such transactions a day on November 8 to 53,648 on December 25.