The Convenience of Banking Apps and Why Should You Use It

With the increasing ubiquity of the internet and smart devices, banking customers increasingly prefer to avail mobile banking services through banking apps. Mobile banking apps give you several advantages, over traditional banking institutions. Banking services through banking apps have revolutionized the financial service sector completely.

Here are some benefits you can avail using the mobile banking apps:

Quicker access to your funds: Traditionally, banking procedures would require you to go to the respective bank and stand in long queues to make any transaction, even for something as simple as depositing money in your account or withdrawing funds from your account. However, with the mobile banking apps, you can easily access the funds in your account from anywhere and at any time. You simply need to download the app on your device, log into your account with your unique customer ID and password, and make the require transfer or transaction. This allows you to make quick transactions without having to stand and wait your turn in queues.

Perform simple tasks: Earlier, you would have to visit the bank to perform simple banking tasks like checking your account balance. This was tedious and time-consuming, and although ATM services eased this process greatly, you would still have to go visit the nearby ATM. However, with the mobile net banking app, these tasks can be done within a few seconds. Since the app is used to sign into your bank account directly, you have direct access to see your bank account balance and transaction history right at your fingertips, anytime, anywhere.

Get real-time alerts: The mobile internet banking app is designed to track the activity of the linked bank account. The app also keeps track of certain activities such as when the funds in the account reach a particular value, or when money is withdrawn. Since your account is linked to the app through the internet, you get instant alerts when changes occur in your account. The apps are also customizable, allowing you to select the alerts according to your preference. 

Improved Security: To access your bank account through the mobile internet banking app, you have to sign in to the app with a unique customer ID and a password given to you at the time of opening your account, which you can change later. No other person can access your account. Furthermore, in the unfortunate event that you lose your device, you will still be protected as all personal information in the app is password protected. At the same time, it is secured by other additional identity confirmations including facial recognition, fingerprint, etc. Some apps also offer a feature where you can remotely disable and wipe out all your login details if you lose or misplace your device.

Internet Banking: Banking services at your fingertips

The world has gone digital, and the banking sector in India has rightly followed suit. Internet banking has become an all-inclusive solution to everyday banking needs and has brought the bank to people's fingertips. How many people nowadays have the time to be physically present at a bank during its designated working hours? More than 65% of India's population is under the age of 35 and find it seemingly impossible to interrupt their hectic schedules to be at the bank. Online banking has proved to be a boon for the elderly too who find it very convenient for the obvious reasons. Internet banking provides every transactional and non-transactional banking solution at your doorstep and makes an important aspect of daily life work seamlessly. There are many advantages of internet banking.

Convenience

This is probably the one benefit that outweighs all possible drawbacks of online banking. You get to
make payments and transactions just by clicking a few buttons and without having to step a foot out of your home or office. You can keep a track of all your bank accounts through internet banking in a much more convenient and faster way. Online banking also makes non-transactional provisions like updating accounts, requesting for new chequebooks, enquiring about the rates of interest etc. much easier.

Better Rates

With lesser people physically visiting the banks, lesser number of employees and relatively smaller spaces are required by the banks to manage customers thus making it financially advantageous for them. Then a percentage of the amount saved and accumulated over time can go to the customers in the form of lower rate of interest on a loan or higher rate of interest on a deposit, thus making internet banking not just convenient but also profitable for people. Often banks propose minimum or zero balance accounts for e-banking and lower penalty on premature withdrawal of a fixed deposit.

Services and Security

The Internet has made it so much easier for both the customers and the bank to access so many services such as loan calculators, financial planning and tools for investment analysis, forecasting and functional budgeting. Many banks also offer the provision for online tax sheets. Online banking has become so popular also due to the undisputable security measures implemented by the banks. The secure servers keep all the customers' financial and personal details confidential. Most banks also cover any e-banking fraud loss of any customer and have systems in place to identify an unauthorized activity.

How Mobile Banking Is the New Future for Home Banking

More and more customers are opting to go mobile with the increasing availability of internet services, and for good reasons. Mobile banking apps with ICICI, Axis and HDFC bank offer several advantages over the traditional ‘brick and mortar’ banking institutions. The mobile banking apps have completely changed the traditional banking scenario, making it quicker and more convenient.

Here are some of the benefits you can enjoy through the HDFC mobile banking app today:

Better control over your funds:
Traditional banking process requires you to go to the bank to make any transaction, even for something as simple as depositing or withdrawing money. However, with the mobile banking app of HDFC Bank, you have easier access to your funds. You simply need to log into your account with your unique customer ID and password, and make the necessary transfer or transaction as you need. This allows you to make quick and calculated decisions related to your account anytime, anywhere.

Review simple tasks:
For simple banking tasks, such as checking balances and transactions, you would be required to visit the bank. Not only was this be tedious, but also time-consuming. However, with the mobile net banking app, you can do this within a few seconds, at any time and from anywhere. Since the app can be used to sign into your bank account, you have direct access to view your banking account history, including all the transactions made, as well as the resulting balance.

Security:
In order to access your bank account through the mobile internet banking app, you need to sign in with the unique customer ID that is assigned to you at the time at the time of opening the account. You can also change the ID and password later. As long as you keep your login details private, no other person can access your account. Furthermore, in the case of an unfortunate event where you lose your device, your account will still be protected as your personal information is password protected. At the same time, it is secured by other additional identity confirmations, like fingerprints, facial recognition, etc. Some devices and apps even have features where you remotely disable and wipe out all your login details in such cases.

Get real-time alerts:
The HDFC mobile banking app is designed to track all the activity of your linked bank account. These include activities such as when the funds in the account reach a particular value or if a certain amount of funds have been withdrawn or deposited, etc. Since the app is directly linked to the account through the steady mobile network, you can get instant alerts. In fact, developers have designed the app to provide real-time alerts for selected activities, allowing you to customise the alerts to your preference.

Going Cashless with Mobile Payment Apps

India is moving towards a cashless future slowly but steadily. The Digital India campaign launched by the Indian government has given rise to a number of mobile payment apps that look set to revolutionize the economic system of India. The demonetization of Rs.1000 and Rs.500 notes that happened in India last November also resulted in the upward growth of online payment apps. Now there are different types of mobile payment apps. While the objective of all these apps is to make digital payments ubiquitous, they all have some unique features that makes them stand out from the lot. While choosing one from so many great options can be confusing, being spoilt for choices is never a bad thing. So, get to know about all the different types of mobile payment apps and make an informed choice accordingly.

Privately owned E-wallets
Many businesses have come up with wallet apps which strive to make cashless transactions the norm. These are like wallets that you keep in your phone and not in your pocket. Instead of carrying cash in your pockets, you are carrying it in your mobile phone via the app. You have to fill your wallet with cash by using debit and credit cards and net banking service. Even though the apps are owned by private businesses, they follow the terms and conditions laid down by the RBI and are highly secure and encrypted. Paytm, Freecharge, PayPal, Mobikwik are all market leaders in this domain.

E-wallets by Banks
Many banks such as SBI, AXIS, ICICI, HDFC, Yes Bank provide their own e-wallets that can be really useful for people who are skeptical about the credibility and security of e-wallets provided by private companies. The wallets can be loaded with cash by using debut cards, credit cards or the bank's net banking services.

UPI Apps
A UPI app is one of the most useful apps that gets directly linked to your bank account. Unlike e-wallets, you can make a direct payment from your bank account to another bank account. UPI apps run on a system provided by the NPCI (National Payment Corporation of India). UPI works round the clock on a fund-transfer system in real time. Almost all public and private banks including SBI, ICICI, HDFC, AXIS provide UPI services.

Aadhaar Payment App
Get your bank account linked with the Aadhaar card and make easy cashless payments through this app. You have to use your Aadhaar card number for making successful transactions and security is not going to be a concern as every transaction is verified using your fingerprint.

The future of Mobile Payment apps: what can you expect?

Demonetization and the Digital India campaign have given the objective of a cashless India a great boost. And mobile payment apps, more commonly known as mobile wallets, have gained a large market share in this process. Paytm, Mobikwik, Freecharge are the market leaders in this domain and boast of a huge customer base and remarkable statistics. Today, Paytm alone has more than 200 million customers in India and intends to increase the numbers with time. But there are certain barriers that stand in the way of the growth of the mobile wallets.

There is a huge potential for all the cashless payment methods in India. However, plastic money like credit cards and debit cards still haven't garnered that kind of response from the masses in the country. People prefer the payment methods that can be accessed through their smartphones much more. And mobile payment apps have capitalised on this market segment. They offer attractive cashbacks, discount coupons on every transaction, a business strategy that has helped them in building a loyal customer base. But this particular strategy has also resulted in losses for these mobile wallets. Paytm reported a loss of Rs. 1,651 crores in the last fiscal year.

Another drawback of the mobile payment apps is that they are not interoperable; you can transfer funds from a Paytm account to another paytm account but not from one Paytm account to a Mobikwik account. This limits the scope of transactions on part of the user. And now with the advent of UPI, mobile wallets are looking at very stiff competition. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has developed the UPI technology that facilitates direct transfer of funds from one bank account to another with the help of a mobile app. UPI looks set to replace NEFT, RTGS and IMPS transactions and the mobile wallets should think of something innovative to survive and they must do that quickly. The digital user is busy and on the move. Thus he/she always looks for ways to minimize effort. UPI can attend to the digital user's banking needs in lesser number of steps than the mobile wallets. Today, if you try to make a payment to Uber through Paytm, first you have to load your Paytm wallet with cash from the bank account and then you can pay for your cab ride from the wallet. UPI lets you access your bank account and make payments from it directly, without the involvement of any third party.

Many banks have come up with their own UPI apps and they are independent of the banks meaning that even if you have an account in SBI, you can use the UPI app of Axis Bank. But it's not all grim for the e-wallets. The RBI has recently said that it would allow interoperability between the different wallets and that would definitely widen their reach.

Facts about e tax payment you need to know

Taxes are revenues that are earned by the government. A working citizen of this country has to pay taxes which are used for various government expenditures and also for the proper functioning of the various government machineries. The IT department of the government of India has allowed e-tax payment for people having online bank accounts. Therefore, people in our country can pay income tax by means of a challan through banks and also via the e-payment method. Thus, the Income Tax department has made it extremely easy for people to file their taxes. People no longer need to wait in long queues to make tax payments but can do so from the comfort of their homes.

• Eligibility: All taxpayers can pay his/her income tax online provided he/she has an online banking account with an authorized bank. However, only a few public as well as private sector banks have been authorized to receive e-tax payment by the IT department.
• However, there are two categories of people who are specifically required to pay taxes via the online mode only. They are all the corporate assesses and all assesses who come under section 44B of the Income Tax Act.

Furthermore, there are a number of benefits of paying income tax online. They are:

• Instant transfer of funds.
• You receive a detailed receipt for the taxes paid as soon as the amount is deducted from the online bank account.
• You can download and keep the receipt and the challan for future references.
• The details of the payment are directly sent to the Income Tax department and this reduces the workload of banks as they do not have to do enter the data again.
• You are able to pay taxes from the place and time of your choosing.
• You can also log on to the official website of the Income Tax Department to find out if your tax amount have reached them or not.

Some of the banks which have been authorized by the Income Tax Department to receive e-tax payment on its behalf are: UCO Bank, Vijaya Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, State Bank of India and its affiliate banks, ICICI bank, Bank of India, Axis Bank and Allahabad Bank.

The required challan number for paying income tax online is ITNS 280. Similarly, after successful payment of taxes, you will receive an acknowledgement containing the CIN or the Challan Identification Number. This can be used to verify the status of the e-tax payment.

The IT department has also made it mandatory for assesses who have paid over 1 lakh rupees as service tax in the previous year to pay service tax via the online mode. This regulation has been in effect since 1st January 2014.

What is the difference between IMPS and other transfer services?

Online money transfer is a very important banking service that everyone makes use of some point of time or the other in their lives. For parents whose grown children are working or studying in a different city or country transferring of money online from one party to the other is a rudimentary and routine matter. Mainly banks across the country provide the following kinds of online money transfer services; Immediate Payment Service or IMPS for short, National Electronic Funds Transfer or NEFT for short and Real Time Gross Settlement or RTGS for short.

Each of the transfer services mentioned above have different monetary values for minimum transfer, different speeds, have different availability and several other features such as the processing fee levied on the online transfer.  In times of dire need and emergency a quick and easy transfer service is of the utmost importance. In such a case IMPS is the answer to your prayers.

Other transfer services such as NEFT is carried out in batches and is not subject to availability for use during bank holiday periods and on Sundays. NEFT allows for small value transfer which can be as low as one rupee with nominal processing fee charges. The charges are pretty standard provided the two banks (the sender bank and the receiver bank) are NEFT enabled and are part of the huge network. To sum up the features of NEFT transfer, it has no upper limit of transfer. This makes NEFT extremely cost-effective and enables for extensive usage by people when it comes to online transfers.

RTGS has a set minimum as well as maximum transfer value which range between two rupees to ten lakhs. The RTGS transfer facility can be made use of only when the two banks are RTGS enabled. RTGS transfer service is mainly made use of when there is a need for high value transfer instantly. Due to the quick accessibility and speedy transfer the processing fee charged for the transfer is quite exorbitant.

Now when we come to IMPS, it is quite beneficial for most users as it balances somewhere between the advantages of a NEFT and RTGS transfer service. Perhaps one of the biggest perks of IMPS transfer service is that it can be made use of 24*7 and is also available during bank holidays. This is a very important factor for a lot of people who suddenly and very urgently need money. IMPS allows for a minimum transfer of one rupee and a maximum of 2 lakhs. The transaction time is immediate and the processing fee is quite low almost on the same ranks as that of NEFT. However, the only drawback is that it is only internet and online banking specific unlike the other two which can be carried out both online and offline.