Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra has switched to the BHIM digital payments app after a conversation with Dilip Asbe, managing director and chief executive officer of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
In a post on X on October 26, Mahindra said a friend had recently asked him which digital payments app he used and suggested that he try BHIM, describing it as an Indian app. Mahindra said he was not familiar with the platform at the time, following which his friend introduced him to Asbe.
Mahindra said his conversation with Asbe helped him understand India’s digital payments infrastructure and NPCI’s role in building it. He subsequently announced that he had switched to BHIM.
What is the BHIM app?
BHIM, short for Bharat Interface for Money, is a digital payments application developed by NPCI that enables users to make payments directly from their linked bank accounts using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Launched on December 30, 2016, the app allows users to send and receive money using a UPI ID, scan QR codes to make payments and request money from other UPI users.
BHIM is a payments application, not a digital wallet.
It operates on the UPI network, which also supports transactions through other apps, including PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm. NPCI provides the underlying UPI infrastructure, while the apps offer interfaces through which users initiate payments.
What prompted Mahindra to switch?
In his post, Mahindra compared digital payments apps to trains operating on a railway network, with NPCI providing the tracks. He cited the scale of India’s UPI ecosystem, saying it processed more than 2,400 crore transactions in September, averaging over 80 crore transactions a day.
Mahindra also described India as the world’s largest real-time payments market and said Asbe was exploring plans to build additional digital infrastructure that could support new applications across wider areas of financial services.
Beyond the technology, Mahindra said he was struck by Asbe’s humility and his pride in his team’s achievements. He also recalled learning that Asbe’s mother was a teacher, which led him to reflect on the values that may shape a person’s character.
Mahindra thanked Asbe for the conversation, saying it showed him that ambition and humility could coexist. He ended his post by confirming that he had switched to the BHIM app.