Currently, a mobile wallet does not allow its users to send or receive money from another wallet company. Back in 2017, the RBI said that the interoperability, which allows the transfer of funds between two mobile wallets would be permitted and only guidelines were awaited. These guidelines have now been released. The RBI said in its circular that the wallets could implement interoperability through the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). With these guidelines, the prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) or wallets such as Paytm, Freecharge, Mobikwik, PhonePe, and PayZapp, among others, will allow users to transfer money from one wallet to another.
Further, the RBI also allowed these companies to issue cards using authorized networks such as Mastercard, Visa or Rupay. “Where PPIs are issued in the form of wallets, interoperability across PPIs shall be enabled through UPI… Where PPIs are issued in the form of cards, the cards shall be affiliated to the authorized card networks,” RBI said in the circular. As per the experts from the industry, these new RBI guidelines will not only boost the e-wallet segment but also will ensure the safety of the money transfer by individuals from one mobile wallet to another.
