How to Pay Using Aadhaar Card Make Aadhaar Enabled Payments

The government after demonetization is now facilitating Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) through mobiles to encourage the cashless economy. Cashless means that you will soon be able to pay using Aadhaar card instead of debit or credit cards.

Ban of high currency notes led the e-wallet companies to grow exponentially, up to the extent that even roadside vendors started using e-wallet to accept payments. And hence, the government is now focusing on Aadhaar enabled payments to eliminate plastic money and the perils of black money.

What is Aadhaar Enabled Payment System(AEPS)

Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) is an Android-based mobile app which allows the users to do transactions using their Aadhaar card number, with iris or fingerprint authorization and one-time password (OTP). You simply need to link your bank account with your Aadhaar and you are done. Services which you can avail using Aadhaar card include:

1. Balance enquiry
2. Cash withdrawal/deposit
3. Aadhaar to Aadhaar fund transfer

With Aadhaar card one only has to remember the Aadhaar number to do any financial transaction. You need to authenticate yourself using your fingerprints and iris image taken when you enrolled for Aadhaar card. The biometric data, i.e. the iris image and fingerprints are linked with your Aadhaar number and hence used for verification whenever you do any transaction.

As no two persons have same fingerprints or iris image, chances of fraudulent activities are minimized. The biometric authentication has hence replaced signatures for financial transactions.

How to pay using Aadhaar card

AEPS is also known as micro ATM, which is a machine quite similar to PoS (Point-of-Sale) and uses your Aadhaar ID for transactions. The difference between micro ATM and PoS machines are that the former uses your biometrics (fingerprints or iris image) for payments.

Once your Aadhaar card is linked to your bank account, it is incredibly easy to make payments through the Aadhaar. Let us know how:

1. Make sure that you have linked your Aadhaar card to your bank account and verified your fingerprints or iris image as well
2. The merchant you are supposed to pay should have installed the AEPS Payment Merchant app on his smartphone, which in turn is connected to a fingerprint scanner
3. To accept payment, the merchant needs to enter your Aadhaar card number, bank name, and the payable amount
4. He then needs to click on Proceed
5. You will now be required to provide your fingerprint or iris image (the eye part) for scanning
6. After successful authorization, the payable amount will be deducted from your bank account and credited to the merchants

Link your bank account and Aadhaar card

To survive in the cashless economy, it is vital that you link your bank account and Aadhaar card. You can either do it online or in person. Find below step-by-step guide for linking bank accounts with Aadhaar cards:

1. For online linking, you should have net banking enabled in your bank account.
2. Log into your bank account
3. Click on Aadhaar Card Seeding or Update Aadhaar Card Details
4. Enter your mobile and Aadhaar number along with other details
5. Enter the Aadhaar number again to confirm
6. Click on Submit
7. You will now receive an OTP on your registered mobile number for verification
8. Submit the OTP to complete the linking

However, if you do not have net banking, visit the branch you have your bank account with and submit an application to link your Aadhaar card with your account.

When the government introduced Aadhaar cards, they were nothing more than an ID proof, but with the option to pay using Aadhaar card as well, the introduction of these is turning out to be a wise step by the government. Instead of carrying n number of debit and credit cards you just have to take and remember your Aadhaar card, and you are sorted.