The Chief Minister of AP, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, claimed to have successfully implemented Aadhar enabled payments through Android mobiles in Vijayawada. He previously vowed to take the same to a national level. He said he will place the idea before a 13 member panel of Chief Ministers tomorrow.

But the central government already announced yesterday that it will be rolling out Aadhar enabled payments, allowing people to send and receive payments using only their Aadhar number and biometric information. ‘Aadhar Pay is a hassle free option wherein a consumer could just transfer money to the trader by just a thumb impression,’ states the CM’s FB page. The trader would need a smart phone and a biometric reader to receive the payments.

The IDFC Bank has announced the launch of the same, collaborating with NPCI and UIDAI. In the last few days, the new venture has been rolled out to 100 merchants. The SBI has also adopted Shirki village in Pen Taluka in Maharashtra to test out the Aadhar enables payment system. The payment system uses your mobile number for verification, turning your phone into a debit card you can use anywhere.

You can instantly transfer money using the IMPS framework without needing to know their bank account number or IFSC code. The virtual identity will be registered as [email protected] or mobile [email protected] The biometric details will also be used while making transactions, which could mean replacement of POS machines with fingerprint readers.

For this to work, the Aadhar card needs to be linked to your bank account, if it hasn’t been already. The Aadhar Payment app, which isn’t on Google Play yet, also needs to be installed on the phone for it to work. The payment method will dispose off the need to remember password and PINs. While it’s still in its initial stages, the payment method will allow India to get on board the digital movement.