BHIM downloaded 3 million times, top app in India: Kant

Indigenous digital payments app BHIM has been downloaded 3 million times and enabled over 5 lakh transactions since its launch, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said.

"Bhim App - 3 million download since launch, No 1 on Playstore in India amongst all apps, over 500,000 transactions since launch. #MakeinIndia," Kant said in a tweet.

In a bid to further push adoption of e-payments in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30 launched the BHIM app that will enable fast and secure cashless transactions using mobile phones.

Named after the architect of the Indian Constitution, Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar, the Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is a simplified payment platform designed to make Unified Payment Interface (UPI) and USSD payment modes simpler and usable across feature phones and smart phones.

Developed by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI), BHIM is supported by host of banks, including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Punjab National Bank, among others.

The app, which can be downloaded from Google Playstore, is currently available in Hindi and English, and support for more languages is expected soon.

BHIM is interoperable with other Unified Payment Interface (UPI) applications and bank accounts.