Banking Connect for finance teams

Banking Connect is an interoperable net banking rail developed by NPCI Bharat BillPay Limited that lets customers pay directly from their bank account through participating banks, without each merchant needing separate bank-by-bank integrations. NPCI describes Banking Connect as a net banking solution that connects banks and payment aggregators, replacing the old one-to-one setup between each bank and each provider with a single participating network.

For finance teams, this matters whenever customers prefer paying from a bank account rather than from a UPI app or card — most commonly in B2B collections, where the payer wants the transaction inside their banking workflow and the merchant wants clean records back.

What banking connect changes

Traditional net banking was useful but fragmented. A merchant could offer HDFC Bank net banking, ICICI Bank net banking, SBI internet banking, and other options only when its payment provider had the relevant bank integrations. Each bank could carry its own onboarding and reconciliation trail.

Banking Connect moves that fragmentation onto an interoperable framework. With one onboarding through a Banking Connect-enabled payment provider, the merchant can reach the banks live on the Bharat Connect network. It is the same one-many simplification UPI brought to retail payments, applied to net banking.

Zoho Payments describes Banking Connect as a way to bring multiple banks onto a single network, so businesses can accept payments directly from customer bank accounts. As of 22 June 2026, Zoho lists six live banks: AU Small Finance Bank, Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), and YES Bank.

How customers pay through banking connect

The customer experience has two supported paths.

1. The customer scans a QR code in the bank's mobile app, authenticates inside that app, and authorises the debit from the bank account.

2. The customer is redirected from checkout to the bank's net banking site, logs in, and authorises the payment there.

In both cases, the payment starts from the customer's bank credentials and comes back to the merchant through the payment provider. UPI normally uses a UPI app and PIN; cards use card details, network authorisation, and 3D Secure authentication.

Bharat Connect, Bharat BillPay, and RBI framing

Bharat Connect and Bharat BillPay are related, but not identical in how readers use the names. Bharat BillPay was the earlier interoperable bill-payment system. RBI's BBPS guidelines state that the BBPS system functions as an authorised payment system under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007.

In 2024, RBI announced the rebranding of Bharat Bill Payment System to Bharat Connect. The newer Bharat Connect identity reflects a broader platform for bill payments, collections, and business use cases. Banking Connect is one of the newer rails under that wider interoperable direction, focused on internet and mobile banking transactions.

The relationship is layered. Banking Connect runs as a rail within the Bharat Connect framework; Bharat Connect operates as the RBI-authorised BBPS payment system under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. That chain matters when documenting compliance posture or answering regulator-aware questions from finance and treasury teams.

Banking Connect vs net banking, UPI, and cards

UPI still dominates many Indian retail payment journeys. Banking Connect is not a UPI replacement. It is the rail finance teams reach for when the payer's bank account, bank login, and receivables record matter more than a phone-first retail flow.

Where Zoho Payments fits

Finance teams should treat the customer flow and the back-office flow as separate questions. The customer sees a payment option. The finance team needs the transaction reference, settlement status, refund trail, and exportable records.

Zoho Payments offers Banking Connect as a checkout option alongside UPI and cards. The product page says completed payments are reflected in the Zoho Payments dashboard and connected business apps, and its Banking Connect page specifically highlights unified reporting for Banking Connect, UPI, cards, and other modes.

For reconciliation, the key thing to plan around is payout timing. Zoho's payout documentation says payouts are deposited daily, with payments generally made available after T+1 or T+2 business days depending on payment method. That is different from claiming instant settlement. Banking Connect can give faster go-live and clearer multi-bank reach, while finance teams should still plan reporting around the documented acquiring-bank and payout cycle.

Zoho's Account Balance Summary report groups payments, fees, refunds, adjustments, and payouts inside the same reporting area. For a finance team, Banking Connect should be one more customer payment route, not one more reconciliation silo.

Conclusion

Banking Connect makes net banking interoperable in the way finance teams have been waiting for: one onboarding route, multi-bank reach, and payment records that can sit beside UPI and cards in the same collections workflow. Its value is not novelty. Its value is giving bank-account-first customers a familiar way to pay while keeping the finance team closer to a single reconciliation view.