Home Tech Tech News Want to do mobile banking without internet? Use USSD to pay offline
Digital transactions have become a way of life nowadays for payments or transferring funds. In fact, a lot of shopkeepers, including the one's selling items on carts, have started using digital payments for convenience. But what if you have no access to internet in your area and you have a financial emergency? Well, fret not. You can make use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) to do banking from your phone, without using internet .
What is USSD and how can it be used
You may be interested in
21% OFF
Acer Swift Go SFG14 41 NX KG3SI 002 Laptop
- Pure Silver
- 8 GB RAM
- 512 GB SSD
40% OFF
Asus VivoBook 15 X515JA BQ322WS Laptop
- Transparent Silver
- 8 GB RAM
- 512 GB SSD
₹31,350₹51,990
Buy now
USSD technology is the solution for doing digital payments without internet connectivity. The method though can only be used for small value transactions up to ₹5,000, as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines.
Also read
Looking for a smartphone? To check mobile finder click here.
The National Unified USSD Platform, better known as NUUP, is a mobile banking service. It uses USSD to transmit information through GSM network channels.
It facilitates the financial communication through banks without using internet. You can use it for various features, including checking your account balance, generating mini statement, fund transfer via MMID (a code allotted by banks on mobile banking registration), IFSC code or Aadhaar number.
ALSO READ: Offline messaging apps like Bridgefy, FireChat gain popularity amid internet shutdowns
Other services include generating OTPs, M-PIN, and VAS such as query service on Aadhaar mapper. NUUP also uses IMPS platform for fund transfer. Therefore, once the transaction is initiated, it cannot be stopped or cancelled.
How to use USSD for transactions
To use USSD, one needs to register their mobile number for mobile banking first. Once this is done, you need to type in *99# (for English language) from your mobile phone. This USSD code is common across all telecom operators.
ALSO READ: Google recommends India's UPI-like platform to US Federal Reserve for digital payment
What are the services available using USSD
You can use following services under USSD:
• Sending money
• Checking balance
• Visiting My Profile
• Checking pending transaction
• Setting/ changing UPI PIN
For further information, you can visit NPCI's official website.