Inter Bank Transfer is a special service that allows you to transfer funds electronically to accounts in other banks in India through: :

• NEFT: The acronym NEFT stands for National Electronic Funds Transfer. Funds are transferred to the credit account with the other participating Bank using RBI's NEFT service. RBI acts as the service provider and transfers the credit to the other bank's account. This system of fund transfer operates on a Deferred Net Settlement basis. Fund transfer transactions are settled in batches as opposed to the continuous, individual settlement in RTGS. Presently, , NEFT operates in hourly batches from 8 am to 7 pm on week days and 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays.
• RTGS: The acronym RTGS stands for Real Time Gross Settlement. This is a system where the processing of funds transfer instructions takes place at the time they are received (real time). Also the settlement of funds transfer instructions occurs individually on an instruction by instruction basis (gross settlement). The RTGS system is the fastest possible interbank money transfer facility available through secure banking channels in India.

Frequently Asked Questions :

How RTGS is different from National Electronics Funds Transfer System (NEFT)?

• NEFT is an electronic fund transfer system that operates on a Deferred Net Settlement (DNS) basis which settles transactions in batches. In DNS, the settlement takes place with all transactions received till the particular cut-off time. These transactions are netted (payable and receivables) in NEFT whereas in RTGS the transactions are settled individually. For example, currently, NEFT operates in hourly batches. [There are twelve settlements from 8 am to 7 pm on week days and six settlements from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays.] Any transaction initiated after a designated settlement time would have to wait till the next designated settlement time Contrary to this, in the RTGS transactions are processed continuously throughout the RTGS business hours.

Is there any minimum / maximum amount stipulation for RTGS transactions?

• The RTGS system is primarily meant for large value transactions. The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is ` 2 lakh. There is no upper ceiling for RTGS transactions.

What is the time taken for effecting funds transfer from one account to another under RTGS?

• Under normal circumstances the beneficiary branches are expected to receive the funds in real time as soon as funds are transferred by the remitting bank. The beneficiary bank has to credit the beneficiary's account within 30 minutes of receiving the funds transfer message.

Would the remitting customer receive an acknowledgement of money credited to the beneficiary's account?

• The remitting bank receives a message from the Reserve Bank that money has been credited to the receiving bank. Based on this the remitting bank can advise the remitting customer through SMS that money has been credited to the receiving bank.

Would the remitting customer get back the money if it is not credited to the beneficiary's account? When?

• Yes. Funds, received by a RTGS member for the credit to a beneficiary customer’s account, will be returned to the originating RTGS member within one hour of the receipt of the payment at the PI of the recipient bank or before the end of the RTGS Business day, whichever is earlier, if it is not possible to credit the funds to the beneficiary customer’s account for any reason e.g. account does not exist, account frozen, etc. Once the money is received back by the remitting bank, the original debit entry in the customer's account is reversed.

What is the essential information that the remitting customer would have to furnish to a bank for the remittance to be effected?
The remitting customer has to furnish the following information to a bank for initiating a RTGS remittance:

• Amount to be remitted
• Remitting customer’s account number which is to be debited
• Name of the beneficiary bank and branch
• The IFSC Number of the receiving branch
• Name of the beneficiary customer
• Account number of the beneficiary customer
• Sender to receiver information, if any