ICICI Bank Blocks Flipkart’s PhonePe Transactions; Security Concerns

Digital payment is the future and with the digital India initiative, many companies came up with new ideas of digitizing the payment.

Just like any other UPI-based app, PhonePe is also a UPI-based app (backed by India’s own e-commerce giant Flipkart). Launched back in August.

ALSO READ: BHIM App Launched By PM Narendra Modi: How It Works?

ICICI Blocking PhonePe?

Well, the bank started blocking transactions on PhonePe from Friday and the situation is not resolved yet.

@ICICIBank is blocking all @ybl & @PhonePe_ txns since Friday. No intimation. No provocation. Not cool at all! @UPI_NPCI @YESBANK @dilipasbe pic.twitter.com/QeysKJemEH

— Sameer.Nigam (@_sameernigam) January 14, 2017

Sameer Nigam, Founder and CEO, PhonePe took the issue to Twitter raising concerns about ICICI Bank blocking PhonePe transactions. He also said that he had not received any official statement from ICICI Bank on the issue. oh yes, PhonePe uses Yes Bank to authorize UPI transactions.

ICICI Bank Said;

Some banks including us have raised security related concerns at appropriate forums about the access to UPI data to a non-banking application. This entity (PhonePe) is following restrictive practices allowing users to make payments with only its UPI handle, which is in contravention to the UPI guidelines of interoperability and choice that empowers a customer to choose any app to make payments through UPI. Pending resolution of these concerns, we have temporarily declined to undertake UPI transactions originating from this entity.

ALSO READ: Indian Banks: Security Breached, 3.2 Million Accounts Compromised!

Earlier, State Bank of India (SBI) blocked net banking transactions with Paytm. Much likely, ICICI has only restricted to PhonePe app, rest all the UPI apps like BHIM are working fine. Well, this could be an effort from banks from stopping users using third party apps especially when ICICI Bank has its own app, which works fabulously.

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