How to transact payments from your phone without internet

Adhil ShettyBankBazaar.comThe demonetisation move and the cash crunch following it has seen people explore alternatives for banking and transaction to avoid dealing in cash and queuing up against bank counters. Smart phone-based transactions have gone up in the last two months with people increasingly adopting e-wallets and UPI.However, most of these digitised instruments need internet connectivity and a large population in India still do not have access to smartphones or internet for that matter. According to the latest data available, only 17 per cent of Indians own smartphones. According to other stats, only around 350 million Indians are connected to the internet. The government is trying to push for inexpensive ways of going completely cashless with or without the use of internet. The Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channel of banking and phone banking allow individuals to carry out banking transactions with basic mobile handsets without the use of internet. Let’s take a deeper look at these options. USSD – send upto Rs 5000 from your phoneUSSD is a phone-based operating system which can be used for mobile banking. From checking account balance to generating mini statement and transferring funds to others, this instrument can be used for multiple financial transactions.How does USSD work? The USSD code technology has been in use for some time now to find out pre-paid phone balance by dialing USSD codes such as *444# or *123#. The technology has recently found application in mobile banking channels. Users can make banking transactions through USSD method, once the bank accounts are linked to their mobile phone numbers through mobile phone registration. Here’s how to carry out USSD-based banking:• First, input *99# in your mobile phone and hit the ‘dial’ button• A welcome message would show up on the phone, following which you would be asked to enter either of the followings:o Three letters of the bank’s short nameo First four letters of the bank home branch’s IFSC codeo Two-digit bank direct code of *99*#• After you provide any of the above details, you would be shown a choice of services and you can pick any one as per your requirement The inputs need to be keyed in within 10 seconds as the menu options lose validity after that. What are the different banking transactions that can be done using this channel? • You can find out the balance in your account on the given date• Get a mini account statement• You can transfer funds to others using your Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) number. MMID is generated by the bank to facilitate secure transfer. Both the sender and the receiver need to have the MMID number in place for completing a successful fund transfer. Other informations that are required for the transfer include the receiver’s account number and IFSC code, the sender’s IFSC code and the amount to be transferred.• You can change your MPIN for mobile banking transactions through this channel. MPIN is a security password used to authenticate transactions just like your ATM PINThere are certain conditions associated to USSD-based transactions. Following are some of the terms that need to be noted:• As per RBI regulations, the maximum amount of money that can be transferred per transaction is Rs.5000 • Banking transactions using the USSD feature would earlier attract a call charge of 50 paise, which has now been waived of following demonetization • Your bank account number, Aadhar card number and IFSC code are required for sending and receiving moneyLite AppsSome banks have released mobile banking apps that work without internet. These can be downloaded to phones and be used to carry out basic banking tasks like checking balance and generating statements. One bank had rolled out an innovative app in 2015 which allowed customers to transact up to Rs 2500 without Internet. Paytm CallE-wallet provider Paytm recently bulked up its offering by launching a phone transaction option. If you are a Paytm user, you need to dial the Paytm line with your registered cell number. It will allow you to generate an M-PIN. After this, you can start sending money to the registered Paytm number of your payee. The amount will be deducted from your existing e-wallet balance. Your M-PIN would be used to authenticate your transfers. Caveat: to transact this way, you’ll need a ready balance in your e-wallet, which can be done only through an internet connection. Phone Banking Some banks in India have phone lines open 24/7 for customers to carry out banking transactions through a phone call. The customer must authenticate himself in compliance with the bank’s authentication process. The scope of such transactions is limited. You can only transfer funds between accounts under the same user ID, or transfer funds to a linked credit card account. Most banks allow you to carry out basic banking tasks through phone banking like checking your balance or details of last transaction.