NPCI launching NACH 3.0 next month: How it affects you?
What's the story
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is set to launch NACH 3.0 in the first week of next month. The upgrade will ensure faster and more secure bank transactions under the National Automated Clearing House (NACH) system. It aims to improve the processing of salaries, pensions, EMIs, and SIPs across the country.
System
What is NACH?
NACH is a centralized system that helps banks in managing recurring transactions like salary credits, government subsidies, loan repayments, as well as subscription charges. The new version of this system comes with a revamped graphical interface and improved back-end handling. It ensures faster processing of credit transactions like salaries and subsidies, and quicker settlement of recurring debit transactions such as EMIs and SIPs.
Improved features
Improved transaction monitoring
The upgraded system also offers an improved dashboard for banks in order to monitor transaction files in real time. It provides self-service user management, and enables account creation and password reset without admin help. The escalation handling for banks has been simplified as well, with direct updates to NPCI's matrix. These improvements are aimed at making the process more efficient and user-friendly.
Security upgrades
Focus on cybersecurity with end-to-end encryption
The new version of the system also puts a lot of emphasis on cybersecurity. It offers end-to-end encryption of all the data, both via web interface (GUI) and host-to-host (H2H) channels. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all users is now mandatory, along with role-based access to prevent unauthorized data use. PGP-encrypted file downloads are allowed only, while plain text downloads have been disabled for added security.
Operational safety
Real-time alerts and enhanced audit trails
Along with these security measures, NACH 3.0 also provides real-time alerts and enhanced audit trails to detect and trace anomalies. These features have been introduced to ensure data confidentiality, system integrity, and operational safety.