NPCI mulls blockchain to boost e-payments

NEW DELHI: Payments network

NPCI

plans using blockchain solution to strengthen digital payments, which have seen an exponential growth in recent times.


A blockchain or

distributed ledger

is a continuously growing list of encrypted transactions called blocks. A block may contain any type of data such as unique digital identifiers of physical products.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an umbrella organisation for all retail payments in India. It was set up with the guidance and support of the RBI and the Indian Banks Association (IBA).

Promoted by 10 banks in India under the

aegis

of the IBA, it aims to become the “best payments network globally”. At present, 56 banks are shareholders of NPCI.

“NPCI intends to develop a resilient, real time and highly scalable blockchain solution,” it said in a notification.