ICICI Bank today announced that it has transformed its mobile banking app, iMobile, into an app that offers payments and banking services to customers of any bank. ‘iMobile Pay’ app offers a unique combination of facilities of a payment app. These include enabling customers to pay to any UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID or merchants; pay bills and do online recharges among others. It also offers instant banking services namely savings account, investments, loans, credit cards, gift cards, travel cards and much more. The users of ‘iMobile Pay’ can also transfer money to any bank account, payment app and digital wallet.
To get started on ‘iMobile Pay’, customers of any bank in the country can download the app. Then, instantly link the bank accounts and generate a UPI ID (which is simply their mobile number e.g. xxxxxx1234.imb@icici) to avail all the facilities.
Speaking on the initiative, Mr Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank said,
“ICICI Bank has always been at the forefront of introducing pioneering innovations. These innovations have played a key role in transforming the way digital India banks. In line with this rich tradition, we introduced the country’s first mobile banking app, iMobile, in 2008. In the recent past, we have captured two user insights while interacting with them. One, many of them, who are not our customers, are keen to use iMobile. Two, customers are tired of using multiple apps for different purposes. They really want to know if an app can take care of all banking and payments requirements. We believe that users will like this innovation as it offers them the unique benefit of payment apps and banking apps in one single place.”
The key features of ‘iMobile Pay’ are:
• Open for all: ‘iMobile Pay’ enables customers of all banks to download this app and experience the quick transactions backed by best-in-class security features
• Acts like a payments app: It allows customers to scan a QR code of any payments app and send money to any UPI ID, bank account, self. It helps the users to transfer the money instantly to anyone free-of-cost. Further, users can pay using the app at a host of establishments. These include petrol pumps, grocery stores, restaurants, pharmacies, hospitals, multiplexes and much more. Further, they can transfer money to any bank account, payment app or digital wallet.
As an industry-first, users can simply use the ‘Pay to contact’ feature without remembering UPI IDs of friends. Using the feature, users can send or receive money to/from their phone contacts registered on any other popular payment app and digital wallet with an ICICI Bank UPI ID. The feature, relying on inter-operability, automatically displays upto three UPI IDs available for a contact to which one can pay.
• Offers banking services: It also acts as a gateway for the customers to begin a new relationship with ICICI Bank. It allows them to open an ICICI Bank savings account digitally and instantaneously, apply for a credit card at zero joining fee and get an instant approval for home/personal/car loans.
• Enables users to link multiple bank accounts: Users can transact using any of these linked accounts with a single UPI ID which is generated at the time of linking the first account.
Here are the simple steps to start using the app:
Download the app, ‘iMobile Pay’, from Google Play Store, open it and set up a four-digit log-in PIN. Users also have the option of logging in using their fingerprint. Please note that it will soon be available for iOS devices. Then, on the welcome screen, tap on ‘link account’ and enter the required details to link the savings account of any bank. Users can also link multiple bank accounts.
Lastly, upon successful linking of the account/s, a UPI ID will be generated, which can be used to start making transactions. The UPI ID generated will remain the same for all the linked bank accounts. Users can simply select the account of their choice while making a transaction.