Transferring Money : Onshore

While transferring money online, we come across many acronyms like ECS, NEFT, EFT, RTGS and IMPS. And after Demonetization UPI, mobile wallets have gained popularity. Starting with, 

1. 
   

   ECS  - Electronic Clearing Service

   
   

Anyone who has an SIP must be aware of this kind of transaction as you give an ECS mandate to transfer fund from your bank account to the mutual funds. This is called ECS Debit, where through a single debit instruction money from large no. of accounts is transferred to a single account of the institution. Similarly, there’s a ECS Credit, exact opposite of ECS Debit. ECS Credit is used for distribution of salaries, pensions. 

ECS is used in transactions which are repetitive and periodic. ECS is been replaced by NACH (National Automated Clearing House) by many mutual fund houses.

2. 
   

   NEFT - National Electronic Fund Transfer

   
   

Using NEFT you can transfer funds from one account to other accounts. The involved could be individual or co-operate accounts at any bank branch participating in the NEFT scheme. Even cash deposits up to 50,000 can be credited to the beneficiary account at NEFT enabled branches. 

Limit: 10 lacs

Needs: 

• 
  

  Internet connectivity

  
  


• 
  

  Beneficiary registration (with Account no. IFSC code)

  
  

Charges: 2.5 to 25 +GST based on the amount transferred as per ICIC Bank.

Timings: 8AM-6:30PM (Mon-Sat excluding 4rth sat)

Time required for the completion of transaction: Same day

3. 
   

   RTGS – Real Time Gross Settlement

   
   

With RTGS you can transfer mutual funds from one account to other where the accounts may belong to the same or different banks. It is specifically used for high value transactions.

Limit: 2-10 lacs

Needs: 

• 
  

  Internet connectivity

  
  


• 
  

  Beneficiary registration (with Account no. IFSC code)

  
  

Charges: 2- 5 lacs - 25 + GST; 5-10 LACS -50 +GST IN ICIC Bank.

Timing: 8AM-4PM (Mon-Sat excluding 4rth sat)

Time required for the completion of transaction: within 30 mins of receipt of fund transfer message by the receiving bank.

4. 
   

   IMPS- Inter Bank Mobile payment services facility

   
   

Using IMPS you can transfer funds from one bank account to other whether the account belong to the same bank or other. Here transfer takes place instantly.

Limit: 2 lacs per day

Needs: 

• 
  

  Internet connectivity

  
  


• 
  

  Beneficiary registration (with Account no. IFSC code)

  
  

Charges: 5-15 as per ICIC Bank based on the transaction amount.

Timings: 24*7

Time required for the completion of transaction: Instant

5. 
   

   UPI – Unified Payment Interface

   
   

It employs IMPS itself, but in case of UPI the downloaded app connects to your bank account and generates a virtual payment address which is referred in all the transactions. So you are not passing you bank accounts or IFSC Code for every transaction. You can have one virtual payment address or you can have multiple payment addresses for various accounts that are linked on your app.

Limit:  1 lacs per transaction

Needs: 

• 
  

  Internet connectivity with a Smartphone

  
  


• 
  

  VPA and MPIN

  
  

Charges: None

Timings: 24*7

Time required for the completion of transaction: Instant

6. 
   

   Mobile wallets or e-wallets-

   
   

They act as intermediary between the sender and receiver. You can transfer money from your bank to wallet and can use it.

Limit: 20K for individual and 50K for merchants per month.

Needs: 

• 
  

  Internet connectivity with a Smartphone

  
  


• 
  

  Recipients’ mobile no. or QR code

  
  

Charges: None

Timings: 24*7

Time required for the completion of transaction: Instant

Eg:  Paytm, Gpay 

7. 
   

   Debit or Credit card transfer  - Electronic fund transfer

   
   

You can transfer funds from one bank to other where the bank accounts may be with the same or different banks. Here you authorize the bank to credit funds to the beneficiary bank account. Here RBI acts as an intermediary between the sending and receiving banks.

Limits: Depends on bank and card type.

Needs: 

• 
  

  Internet Connectivity

  
  


• 
  

  Swipe machine and PIN

  
  


• 
  

  In case of online: card no. CVV no. and Expiry dare

  
  

Charges: None for card holders

Timings: 24*7

Time required for the completion of transaction: Instant

 So it can be concluded that, UPI and Mobile wallets or e-wallets seemed to be more beneficial for transaction up to 1 lac rupees and for transaction above 5 lac rupees NEFT seems to be most effective than RTGS. But do remember in case of NEFT the transaction completion would be batch dependent.