PAYMENT APP

Of the plethora of cashless payment mechanisms that surfaced soon after demonetisation, the latest one is the Aadhaar payment app from the National Payments Corporation of India, which doesn’t require you to carry a phone or a debit/credit card — all you need is a bank account linked to your Aadhaar number. Merchants at points of sale will use a special device to scan your fingerprint instead of swiping a card, before the transfer is made.

However, the problem is, this will not work with the existing POS swipe machines which can take debit and credit cards.

A fingerprint scanner costs `2,000 and more. We have to wait and see how ubiquitous such systems become.

Aadhaar has also simplified the hassle of buying a new SIM card and getting it activated. Almost all mobile service providers now offer Aadhaar-based Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures at their customer centres.

They will scan either finger or iris; authenticate your Aadhaar number and sell you a SIM. No filling lengthy forms and waiting days on end for activation.