Remitting funds to your near and dear ones is now available at a click of your mobile. With electronic fund transfer facility getting available on mobile phones, monetary transaction services are expected to see a giant leap. After having said to have created wonders in other emerging nations like Kenya and Philippines, the new facility is expected to do the same in India too.

The new facility called Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS) has been launched under the umbrella of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). NPCI is a non profit organization backed by Reserve Bank of India.
Fund transfer through mobile phones was so far possible only if both sender and receiver had accounts with the same bank. IMPS has however been developed in such a way that funds can now be transferred between any bank which has implemented the system.

IMPS can be used with any mobile irrespective of the fact whether it is a high end or a low end phone. In case of a high end phone, the concerned bank would install a unique application in the customer's mobile on request through which transactions can be carried out. In case of low end mobiles where external applications are not supported, IMPS can be used via SMS also.

Transfer of money using IMPS will take place through National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT). Status of request can however not be known instantly as NEFT transactions take place only between 9 am to 7 pm. Transaction charges will be at the discretion of the concerned back and is thus expected to differ from bank to bank.

One important factor that needs to be kept in mind for availing IMPS is that both remitter (sender) and beneficiary (receiver) need to hold bank accounts. It is not necessary that the accounts be held with the same bank.