All You Need to Know About NEFT

National Electronic Fund Transfer is a system that allows you to send money throughout the country. It’s utilized to transmit money from one bank account to another securely and conveniently. Money may be transmitted to any NEFT-enabled bank in India using this technique individually. A bank’s IFSC code is required to initiate an NEFT inward transfer, and other information, such as the bank account number, the bank branch, and the account holder’s name, is also necessary. Now that we know what is NEFT transaction? Let’s know more about the NEFT process.

The standard NEFT system works on Deferred Net Settlement. Transactions in the Real-Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) are settled on a continuous, individual basis, and NEFTinward RBI now runs in half-hourly batches.

Which Bank is NEFT enabled?

NEFT services are only available in a limited number of bank branches across the nation. To participate in the NEFT money transfer network, a bank branch must be NEFT-enabled. The Reserve Bank of India’s website lists banks that provide the NEFT service.

Customers may use NEFT batches per day at almost all leading commercial, public, cooperative, and sahakari banks.

 

Who is eligible to utilize the NEFT facility?

To Transfer Funds –

Individuals, businesses, and corporations with bank accounts can use NEFT to transfer cash. Even people without a bank account (walk-in clients) can deposit some money at NEFT-enabled branches with instructions to share payments via NEFT. Cash remittances would, however, be limited to a maximum of Rs. 50,000/- per transaction. Customers in this situation must provide accurate information, such as their complete address, phone number, and so on. As a result, NEFT enables originators and remitters to initiate money transfer operations even if they do not have a bank account.

To Receive Funds –

Individuals, businesses, and corporations with accounts at a bank branch can use the NEFT system to receive funds. As a result, the recipient must have an account with the country’s NEFT-enabled destination bank branch.

Benefits of NEFT

NEFT offers many benefits over the other modes of funds transfer:-

Transaction Timings for NEFT

NEFT is open from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on all working days, i.e., Monday through Saturday. (Except the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month.) Additionally, NEFT transactions are not credited on public and bank holidays. On the other hand, the sender can queue the transaction for the receiver. When NEFT picks it up the next working hour and day, it will be credited.

Fees for NEFT transactions

The following is the price structure that a bank can impose on a client for NEFT:-

• There are no fees associated with receiving money via NEFT.
• The following fees apply when sending money using NEFT. These fees are consistent across all bank branches.

• As of July 1, 2011, originating banks are obliged to pay a service charge of 25 paise per transaction to both the clearinghouse and the destination bank. On the other hand, the banks are unable to pass these costs on to their clients.

Limits on NEFT Transactions

The amount transmitted using NEFT is unrestricted, and the amount of money sent using NEFT has neither minimum nor maximum restrictions.

However, the maximum amount per transaction is Rs. 50,000/-.

Process of NEFT

In an NEFT transaction, the customer must fill out an application form and provide information about the beneficiary and the transfer amount or the details required for NEFT. Name, bank, branch name, IFSC, account type, and account number are provided. The remitter instructs their bank branch to deduct funds from their account and send the stated amount to the recipient. This service is also available through internet banking, and certain banks additionally provide NEFT through ATMs.

1. The communication is prepared by the originating bank branch and sent to its pooling centre.
2. The pooling centre sends the message to the NEFT Clearing Centre, including the subsequent batch.
3. The money transfer operations are sorted by destination bank at the Clearing Centre. It creates accounting entries to accept payments from originating banks (debit) and disburse cash to destination banks (credit) (credit). Following that, bank-to-bank remittance communications are sent.

Steps to follow to initiate an NEFT transaction

The following is the procedure for transferring cash using NEFT online:

Step 1: Go to your online banking account and log in. If you don’t already have a net banking account, create one on your bank’s website.

Step 2: Make the beneficiary (the person who will receive the funds) a payee. To do so, go to the ‘Add New Payee’ area and fill in the following information about the beneficiary:

• Account Number is a unique number assigned to each customer.
• IFSC Code is an abbreviation for International Financial Services Code.
• [Savings or Current] Account Type

Step 3: After the payee has been added, select NEFT as the fund transfer method.

Step 4: Choose the account from which you want to transfer funds, the payee, the amount you wish to share, and any notes you wish to include (optional).

Step 5: Press the submit button. The funds will be sent to the account of the intended recipient.

NEFT can also be used for a variety of other transactions.

Users may utilize the NEFT system for a range of transactions in addition to personal cash transfers, such as:-

• Payment of credit card balances to card issuers
• EMI payment on a loan

In these circumstances, the remitting client must supply the IFSC and account number indicated by the card-issuing bank and the loan-disbursing bank.

Other types of transactions can also be completed using the NEFT technology.

NEFT Complaint Mechanism

The dispute settlement procedure shall conform with the RBI’s Directive on Dispute Resolution Mechanism, as revised from time to time.

The money is only not transferred in highly unusual situations. If consumers have any problems with the NEFT procedure, they can call, fax, or email the bank. You can contact the RBI if you don’t hear back from the bank or if they don’t remedy the problem.

Below you can find the details for contacting RBI and top banks in case of any issues.

Customer Facilitaion Details
BANK	PHONE/FAX	Email
RESERVE BANK OF INDIA	Tel: 022-22603329/22603235	neftpadmumbai@rbi.org.in
	Fax: 022-22617382	padmumbai@rbi.org.in
	SFMS help for technical support related to NEFT	nefthelpdeskncc@rbi.org.in
	022-27595536 / 537
BANK OF MAHARASHTRA	Tel: 022-22780324 / 0325	bomneft@mahabank.co.in
	Fax: 022-22780330
CITI BANK	Tel: 022-40005706/5922	citiservice.india@citi.com
	022-40015618
	Fax: NIL
FEDERAL BANK	Tel: 0484-6461887	neft@federalbank.co.in
	0484-2634615/44
	Fax: 0484-2609705
HDFC BANK	Tel: 022-30752044/ 53	neftoutward@hdfcbank.com
	022- 30751922 / 1947	neftinward@hdfcbank.com
	Fax: 022-25799814
ICICI BANK LIMITED	Tel: 022- 33667777 & 040- 33667777	neft.query@icicibank.com
	Fax: 040-41064450
IDBI BANK	Tel : 022-66908447/97/42	etpc@idbi.co.in
	022-66908538
	Fax : Nil
IDFC BANK LIMITED	Tel: 022-42423306/3348/3331/3312/3335	CFC@idfcbank.com
		neftcell@idfcbank.com
PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK	Tel: 022-22627511	neft@pnb.co.in
	Fax: 022-22610781
STATE BANK OF INDIA	Tel: 022 -27561665/27573270/27573506	neft@sbi.co.in
	/27560743
	Fax: 022 – 27561664
YES BANK	Tel: 022-33478270,	cfc@yesbank.in
	022-33477571	yestouch@yesbank.in
	Fax: NIL

What distinguishes NEFT from RTGS?

Until the UPI service was created, RTGS was the fastest way to transfer money online. The transfer amount must be more significant than Rs. 2 lakhs. It is one of the safest and most secure money transfer methods in the country. Like NEFT, this kind of transaction necessitates knowledge of both the sender and recipient’s IFSC codes. The requests are handled immediately once received, but only during specific banking hours. The RTGS service has no maximum amount constraints.

You may also view YADNYA INVESTMENT ACADEMY’s video on NEFT and other Online Funds Transfer methods. The video serves to compare the various methods of online money transfer.