IT ministry, UIDAI ask banks to move to Aadhaar Pay by March end

The IT ministry and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has instructed all banks to move to Aadhaar Pay platform by March end. To keep a check on the security concerns regarding biometric data, only merchants registered with the UIDAI will be permitted to provide Aadhaar Pay services.Aadhaar Pay is a service which will empower merchants to receive payments from clients seamlessly, without the involvement of any physical payment instruments like payment cards, mobile wallets etc.The functionality of Aadhaar Pay is pretty simple: The merchant has to download the Aadhaar Pay app on his phone which should be linked to an Aadhaar biometric reader. Once the infrastructure is set, he can start transacting with his clients.At the customer’s end, to use the service, the customer needs to first link his/her bank account to the Aadhaar number. While making a payment, the customer has to enter the Aadhaar number and use his/her fingerprint as the password for the transaction.The government feels Aadhaar Pay will be especially beneficial to people who do not have debit cards, mobile wallets and smartphones as anybody with a bank account and an Aadhaar number can make cashless payments.Banks expected to roll out the services soon are State Bank of India (SBI), IDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Punjab National Bank, to name a few.