The Reserve Bank of India is set to gain significantly enhanced oversight capabilities over digital fund transfers through a newly launched net-banking platform developed by NPCI Bharat BillPay. The system, called Banking Connect, will provide regulators with near real-time visibility into transaction patterns, particularly targeting sectors like cryptocurrency and online gaming that have raised regulatory concerns.
Real-Time Monitoring for Enhanced Regulatory Oversight
Noopur Chaturvedi, Managing Director and CEO of NBBL, revealed that the platform will enable the central bank to monitor fund flows with substantially reduced time lags. Currently, banks submit net-banking transaction data to the RBI with delays ranging from one week to as long as a year, creating significant gaps in regulatory oversight capabilities.
Chaturvedi emphasized that "a live, instantaneous view of transfers routed through Banking Connect will significantly strengthen regulatory oversight". The shorter transaction lag will specifically help the RBI track money movements in sensitive sectors such as cryptocurrency trading and online gaming, both of which have been under increased regulatory scrutiny.
Ambitious Growth Targets for Digital Bill Payments
The National Payments Corporation of India's wholly-owned subsidiary has set aggressive expansion targets for its bill payment ecosystem. NBBL aims to achieve a fourfold increase in monthly bill-payment volumes, targeting 1 billion transactions within four years, compared to the current 260 million monthly transactions.
Currently, approximately 80 million customers utilize net banking services, processing nearly 300 transactions monthly with a total value exceeding ₹6 lakh crore. While Unified Payments Interface continues its rapid growth trajectory, net banking adoption has been expanding at single-digit rates, according to Chaturvedi.
Expanding Household Adoption and Fraud Prevention
NBBL is focusing on significantly increasing household penetration of digital bill payment services. The organization currently serves about 70 million households and aims to expand this to over 135 million households, representing approximately half of all Indian households.
The new platform incorporates advanced security features designed to minimize fraudulent activities by flagging suspicious transactions more rapidly. However, Chaturvedi acknowledged that social engineering scams, where customers are manipulated into sharing sensitive information, remain challenging to prevent entirely.
Banking Connect addresses existing gaps in payment systems, particularly since net banking remains the dominant method for merchant payments. The platform emphasizes interoperability and follows a mobile-first design approach to enhance user experience.
Six banks and multiple payment aggregators have already integrated with the platform, with active efforts underway to onboard the top five banks by net-banking volumes within the next month. The platform officially went live last month, marking a significant step forward in India's digital payment infrastructure evolution.
