How is Bharat QR code different From UPI BHIM

BharatQR is a common QR code jointly developed by all the four major card payment companies—National Payments Corp. of India that runs RuPay cards, MasterCard, Visa and American Express—under instructions from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

How is Bharat QR code different From UPI BHIM

“It is a major revolutionary step because of interoperability. The merchants will be identified by one QR code whether the payment is through MasterCard, Visa or RuPay and this will result in deepening of acceptance infrastructure,” said Dewang Neralla, chief executive officer, Atom Technologies Ltd, a payment service provider.

Besides working as a common interface for the Visa/MasterCard/RuPay platform, BharatQR will also facilitate acceptance using Aadhaar-enabled payments and Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

“Anyone who has a QR scanning/reading app, whether it’s a UPI-based or Aadhaar-based app, the payment can be done. It is a better alternative to physical point-of-sale (PoS) infrastructure which involves capital costs,” added Neralla.

Who can use Bharat QR Code?

As a customer, to use BharatQR code you need to have a smartphone and must download the bank app that is compatible with BharatQR code.

While most banks have multiple apps, BharatQR code has been implemented only on select apps. “Every bank has chosen one or two apps. For instance, ICICI Bank Ltd has chosen Pockets and ICICI Mobile Banking app. HDFC Bank has launched it with PayZapp,” said T.R. Ramachandran, group country manager, India and South Asia, Visa.

Currently, BharatQR code works on Android and iOS platform and not on Windows. However, a deployment option via USSD is being worked out to support non-smartphone users.

Right now only credit, debit and prepaid cardholders with the member bank can use this service and the service is not currently available on Unified Payment Interface.