Everything you need to know about VPA | Housing News

Online payments have taken the front seat in the payment market. Over 10 crore people are active monthly UPI users in India. Gone are the days when you had to worry about keeping the exact change! 

Ease of transaction, quick transfer, and various transfer features have contributed to the growing user base for several UPI apps. Therefore, the number of UPI transactions in total volume of digital transactions has grown from 23% (201-19) to 55% (2020-21). One of the best features of a UPI transaction is that the receiver won’t get any information about your bank details. 

How?

Thanks to your unique VPA or Virtual Payment Address. 

What is VPA?

The VPA or Virtual Payment Address is a unique address or an identifier for your UPI account. For instance, your bank account is identified using your account number, IFSC code, and other details. Similarly, your VPA is used to identify your UPI account. 

Shorter and easier to share or identify than a bank account number, VPA keeps your bank related details confidential. The receiver can only see the VPA and the transaction details. Nothing more. 

Moreover, you don’t have to go through the hassle of writing your bank details every time before making a transaction. Hence, VPA helps in facilitating convenient and faster online transactions. 

So, if you were wondering what is VPA? There you go! You have your answer. 

A typical VPA syntax

A typical VPA consists of 3 elements – 

  • ‘Your name/number’ 
  •  ‘@’ 
  • ‘Bank name’ or ‘upi’ (your bank’s name or the UPI ID’s bank name). 

If your VPA contains your number (say 9534659098) and name of the UPI’s bank (say Yes Bank) – your VPA will be 9534659098@ybl. 

A few examples of VPA:

  • 7907239786@hdfcbank
  • smrita@axis
  • georgek@upi
  • 7205536054-0@airtel

You can also create a new VPA address for yourself on any UPI app. All UPI apps have this feature. In this article, we will discuss how you can create a new VPA in the Airtel Thanks app. 

Note: VPA is commonly referred as UPI ID. 

How to create a new VPA or UPI ID on Airtel Thanks app?

Your Airtel UPI ID can be easily changed from the Airtel Thanks app. Follow the below steps:

  • Open your Airtel Thanks app and navigate to the ‘Pay’ section in the app.
  • On the first deck of the ‘Pay’ page, you will see 4 different options – pay to mobile, pay to Bank/UPI ID, scan any QR, and check balance. Locate a small settings icon right above the check balance icon. 
  • Click on the settings icon. You will be redirected to a new page. 
  • You can copy, share, or scan QR code to receive money. To change the VPA, click in the 3 dots on the top right corner of the page. 
  • Select ‘create new UPI ID’ and proceed. 
  • Please enter your desired UPI ID name. It should contain 4 alphanumeric characters (3 alphabets are mandatory) and should not have any special character like ‘- ‘or ‘,’.
  • Click on ‘Set up’ button to proceed. If you have followed the mentioned parameters and the address is available, your new ID will be created. 

To make sure the new UPI ID works, you need to link it to an active bank account. 

Wrapping up

Your UPI transactions won’t go through if your bank app is not linked to your VPA. Use your VPA address to make easy and quick transactions!

By analia

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