IMT, RTGS, IMPS, NEFT- De-jargonising Digital Banking Parlance

Time to read: 3 mins | February 17, 2017

Acronyms make us curious, especially when it comes to Digital Banking. We don’t realise that these banking acronyms are here to make life simple. IMPS, RTGS,NEFT and IMT are not just 3-4 lettered digital banking jargon but channels through which one can transcend to the magical world of digital banking and bank with utmost convenience!

Last December, Amit Bhonsle, had to pay his monthly rent. As always, he wrote a cheque, but since his landlord was travelling, he insisted on a fund transfer. Amit toyed with the idea of visiting his branch but then realised it was a Sunday. Amit downloaded Axis Mobile, to make his maiden fund transfer. Since it was a Sunday, IMPS- Immediate Payment Service was his best bet as only IMPS lets you transfer money 24x7 on Public Holidays and Sundays unlike RTGS and NEFT. Well, post that, there has been no cheque in the picture!

Also, IMPS can also be used for peer to peer transfer through MMID. Atul went to do his groceries and to his surprise, his grocer gave him his Mobile number and MMID-Mobile Money Identifier and asked him to make a transfer since he was short of change due to the recent demonetization. Atul immediately transferred the amount and since has always used MMID for his grocer.

IMPS is Immediate Payment Service. This is one of the several abbreviations in the digital banking dictionary. There are a few more and they promise to make transacting much simpler.

(RTGS vs NEFT)

Raghav Mahajan, had to transfer funds for his son’s second year college fees. This included his tuition and hostel fees. The previous year he had used the NEFT facility, but this year he used RTGS, since the fees had increased from 8.8 lakhs to 10.5 lakhs. Also, he was required to transfer it immediately since he had missed the due date by a day and NEFT has an hourly clearance whereas RTGS is immediate, hence Real Time Gross Settlement. Charges are applicable on the bracket depending on the bank.

IMT (Instant Money Transfer)

IMT is an innovative domestic money remittance service that allows you to send money to a receiver only by using the receiver's mobile number. The receiver can withdraw money from an Axis Bank ATM without using a card as he or she receives all the details required for withdrawal of the cash on his or her mobile phone. Poonam Pillai’s maid Radhika was travelling to her native place for Diwali after 3 years and she wanted to surprise her with some additional bonus for her visit. Radhika told her that there was an Axis Bank ATM near her house. She immediately made an IMT Transfer and Radhika got a message on her phone and she withdrew the cash and had a cracker of a Diwali!

Overall, IMPS, IMT , NEFT and RTGS are all the acronyms you need to know to make your banking simple and effective. It’s just a small step and takes minutes. You can make all your important payments in a jiffy!

Additionally, there are 2 abbreviations which are critical to most Digital Banking transactions.

IFSC (Indian Financial System Code)

The Indian Financial System Code is an alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a bank-branch and ensures secure transactions.

ECS – Electronic Clearing Service

Electronic Clearing Service, ECS, is an electronic clearing system that facilitates paperless credit / debit transaction directly linked to your account and also provides for a faster method of effecting periodic and repetitive payments.

For any individual to avail to any of the above mentioned services, it is imperative that they have access to either Internet Banking or the Axis Mobile App. So drive away your banking blues with these quick transaction fixes. Remember, digital banking is addictive just like solving acronyms!