Overview
In most emerging markets, the payment acceptance network remains spotty and underdeveloped. FSS AadhaarPay disrupts India’s traditional POS-driven business models by leveraging the ubiquity of mobile connectivity and the National ID (Aadhaar) to address this infrastructure gap and drive digital payments growth.
FSS AadhaarPay enables banks to roll-out a wide-scale digital acceptance. payment network by facilitating payments through biometric authentication, without the need for a physical payment instrument. The low-cost solution removes the need for merchants to invest in expensive POS equipment and completes transactions using just a mobile app and a biometric reader.
This helps banks rapidly expand the merchant ecosystem by increasing the number of acceptance points in a cost-effective manner.
The Aadhaar Payment System supports an efficient onboarding process, enabling quick service expansion. A simple and paperless eKYC process verifies merchants instantly via the Aadhaar Payment System. Merchants registered with the bank can set themselves up within minutes by installing the mobile app and submitting their Aadhaar number and biometrics to complete verification.
How it Works
The service leverages the universal availability of the mobile device and Aadhaar - India’s biometrically-enabled digital identity -- that covers 99% of the populace to advance the growth of digital payments. Envisaged as an open platform, the Unique Identification Authority of India, allows payment service providers to consume APIs, “on-demand” to authenticate customers. Besides leveraging Aadhaar for establishing user credentials, the national identity also serves as a financial address that can be directly linked to the customer’s bank account. Any merchant with a biometric reader and an Android phone can download the AadhaarPay application to accept payments by scanning
the customer’s fingerprint and entering the amount at the point-of-sale (POS) terminal.
FSS AadhaarPay uses APIs exposed by UIDAI to authenticate the customer’s biometric credentials mapped to the social security number. On successful authentication, the transactions are routed to the customer’s issuing bank.
Merchant installs FSS
AadhaarPay App
Merchant downloads FSS AadhaarPay App and attaches a UIDAI certified scanner to the smartphone
Completes
verification
Submits Aadhaar number and biometrics for eKYC and is onboarded instantly
Accepts payments
from customers
Enters the customer's Aadhaar number, bank name and amount for payment
Validates
transaction
Captures customer's fingerprint using the biometric scanner
Receives payment
immediately
On successful authentication of the customer, funds are instantly transferred from customers account to merchant's bank account instantly
Lightweight Merchant App
FSS AadhaarPay offers merchants a mobile app that is easy to use and compatible with all Android devices. Merchants can initiate a payment transaction via the app in a few simple steps. Using the app, merchants can quickly:
Scan QR code
Merchants can scan the QR code on the customer’s Aadhaar card to quickly pre-populate details such as name and is compatible Aadhaar number. This eliminates need to type in customer details for every payment transaction, optimizes checkout time
View transaction history
Merchants can view details of all sales transactions and access details regarding the payment status of a specific order/transaction
View notifications
FSS AadhaarPay instantly notifies merchants on transaction events to help merchants stay updated and track payment status
Generate digital receipt
Merchants can generate a receipt for every transaction and SMS details to the customer. A proof of purchase for every transaction lowers dispute volumes
Manage profile
Merchants can self-manage accounts and update any account related information over the app
Aadhaar APIs to Foster Innovation
FSS AadhaarPay exposes transaction APIs to partners to facilitate in-app transactions and leverage external sources of innovation
Facilitates Immediate Credit in the Merchant’s Account
FSS AadhaarPay uses the bank account as a source of funds and all transactions are cleared and settled using the IMPS network (India’s real-time fund transfer network), ensuring immediate crediting of accounts.
For on-us transactions, FSS AadhaarPay interfaces with banks system for instant transfer of funds from the customer’s account to the merchant’s account.
For off-us transactions, payments are routed through NPCI infrastructure and on confirmation, FSS AadhaarPay will facilitate real-time credit of funds into the merchant’s account.
FSS AadhaarPay shares reconciliation files with the bank at the end of each day for transaction settlement.
Operational Risk
Implements end to end encryption of data to prevent identity theft and fraud
System Risk
Access rights
Role-based access to the application GUI protects system from unauthorized access
Transaction Risk
Secure device binding
Ensures secure transmission of biometric data from the scanner to the merchant’s mobile during the authentication stage of the transaction
Multi-factor authentication
Authenticates via an OTP/passcode in combination with the customer’s biometrics for higher transaction values to further secure the payment transaction
Risk checks
Enables banks to define custom rules on the volume, value and velocity of transactions for merchant, and customers to contain risk and payment fraud. Banks have the option to blacklist customer accounts or merchant terminals when a threshold limit is crossed
Real-time risk monitoring
Integration with FSS Payanalytix risk scores transactions based on multiple parameters - including location, user activity and changes in the behavioral patterns of merchant and customers
Detailed Reports
FSS AadhaarPay offers a wide range of reports to help banks and merchants monitor business performance. Daily, weekly and monthly transaction reports help banks and merchants understand service adoption patterns and accordingly design strategies to grow user base and expand services.
Transaction Analysis - Provides merchants and banks a snapshot of transaction activity including:
Successful transactions by payment type - Aadhaar, QR codes, UPI for visibility into the usage and revenue across different channels
Transactions grouped by status - Success, failure, reversal, timeout, helps banks identify transaction problems relating to excessive denials, transaction failures or response times
Region performance - Drilldown view of adoption patterns at a regional level aids with business planning
Failure analysis - Banks can view failed transactions, identify root cause for failure and take corrective measures to improve success rates
Maintains High Security Standards
FSS AadhaarPay’s multi-level security enforcement always ensures maximum
protection for data and users
Complies with UIDAI security standards
Supports biometric devices that are certified by UIDAI for payment acceptance. Transactions originating from non-certified devices are automatically rejected
Supports SSL keys
Supports encryption for Protects against sensitive information in transit
Complies with OWASP policies
Protects against application related vulnerabilities and threats
Benefits to Banks, Merchants
and Customers
Benefits to Banks
Benefits to Merchants
