ICICI Bank launches ‘iMobile Pay’
India’s first app that offers payments and banking services for all
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Customers of any bank can link their bank account, generate a UPI ID and start paying and shopping immediately
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They also get instant access to the entire range of ICICI Bank’s banking services
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They can transfer money to any bank account, payment app and digital wallet
Mumbai: ICICI Bank today announced that it has transformed its state-of-the-art mobile banking app, iMobile, into an app that offers payments and banking services to customers of any bank. Called ‘iMobile Pay’, the app offers a unique combination of facilities of a payment app-- such as enabling customers to pay to any UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID or merchants, pay bills and do online recharges among others-- with 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.
Another prominent feature of ‘iMobile Pay’ is ‘pay to contacts’ which enable users to automatically see the UPI IDs of their phone book contacts, registered on the ICICI Bank UPI ID network, of any payment app and digital wallet. This unique functionality provides users a significant convenience of inter-operability, as they no longer have to remember the UPI IDs and can easily transfer money across payment app and digital wallet.
A first-of-its-kind facility in India, ‘iMobile Pay’ extends the ambit of mobile banking apps which are hitherto restricted to only the customers of the respective banks. At the same time, ‘iMobile Pay’ eliminates the need to maintain multiple apps—be payments or banking—as it empowers customers to undertake all transactions. In the process, it also offers compelling reasons for users to link their multiple bank accounts to this app.
To get started on ‘iMobile Pay’, customers of any bank in the country can download the app, instantly link their 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 difference purposes and they really want to know if an app can take care of all banking and payments requirements. Armed with these insights, we are delighted to extend the ambit of our mobile banking app. Now on, customers of any bank can experience the ease, speed and safety of our mobile banking app. They can link all their bank accounts to this app. It means they can continue to bank with any bank and still use ‘iMobile Pay’ for all their digital transactions. Also, they can undertake all transactions, which they were so far doing through a gamut of payments app, through this app.
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.
“ Mr. Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI said, “We are delighted to facilitate ICICI Bank in transforming its mobile banking app empowered with UPI and interoperable with all other UPI based payment apps. This is yet another initiative that will inspire the ecosystem to integrate interoperability on digital platforms. UPI is known to provide seamless, secure and convenient payment experience to its users and it is our belief that the large scale adoption of UPI will strengthen the ecosystem and help in achieving the common goal of less- cash society.”
Over the years, marquee research agencies have adjudged iMobile as one of the best banking apps in the world for its large array of services, user-friendly functionalities and intuitive design. For example, iMobile has been rated among top ranking apps for the past five consecutive years by Forrester, a reputed global research firm.
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 including 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 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.
Lot more to be added soon: The list of forthcoming exciting features include users can pay utility bills, recharge mobile phones, check CIBIL score, book travel tickets, buy travel and gift cards, invest in an FD, RD, mutual funds and insurances. They will also get a feature of spends tracker, that will provide an overview of spends, with all transactions are bucketed into specific categories, to help them track their balances.
Here are the simple steps to start using the app:
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Download: 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.
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Link account/s: 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.
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Generate UPI ID: 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.
To know more on the facility, visit: https://www.icicibank.com/mobile-banking/imobilepay.page; To download the app, visit Google Play Store.
For news and updates, visit www.icicibank.com and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ICICIBank
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Russian President Putin signs new doctrine that lowers threshold for using nuclear weapons
Moscow, Nov 19: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country.
Putin's endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy comes on the 1,000th day after he sent troops into Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022.
It follows US President Joe Biden's decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied longer-range missiles.
The signing of the doctrine, which says that any massive aerial attack on Russia could trigger a nuclear response, reflects Putin's readiness to threaten use of the country's nuclear arsenal to force the West to back down as Moscow presses a slow-moving offensive in Ukraine.
Asked about whether the updated doctrine was deliberately issued on the heels of the US' decision to ease restrictions on Ukraine using its longer-range missiles to strike Russia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the document was published “in a timely manner” and that Putin instructed the government to update it earlier this year so that it is “in line with the current situation”.
Putin first announced changes in the nuclear doctrine in September, when he chaired a meeting discussing the proposed revisions.
The new version of the document states that an attack against his country by a nonnuclear power with the “participation or support of a nuclear power” will be seen as their “joint attack on the Russian Federation”.
It doesn't specify whether such an attack would necessarily trigger a nuclear response. It mentions the “uncertainty of scale, time and place of possible use of nuclear deterrent” among the key principles of the nuclear deterrence.
At the same time, it spells out conditions for using nuclear weapons in greater detail compared to the previous version of the doctrine, noting they could be used in case of a massive air attack involving ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft, drones and other flying vehicles.
The wide formulation appears to significantly broaden the triggers for possible nuclear weapons use compared with the previous version of the document, which stated that Russia could tap its atomic arsenal if “reliable information is received about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting the territory of Russia or its allies”.
The revised doctrine envisages that Russia could use nuclear weapons in response to aggression against its ally Belarus.
Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country with an iron hand for more than 30 years, has relied on Russian subsidies and support. He has let Russia use his country's territory to send troops into Ukraine and allowed the Kremlin to deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
