Many of you may have used NEFT earlier to send money, but do you have the right information about What is NEFT? Because the rules of the bank change day by day, it is essential to have updated information in all these subjects. Ever since online banking or internet banking has come, since then people have gone to the banks in a way, they now do all their work sitting at home. This does not harm their time, and they work quickly.
There are three main ways of online fund transfer, namely NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS. Today we will get detailed information about NEFT. So if we talk about NEFT, then it is one such means of sending money online, through which we can easily send or receive money online from one account to another. So today I thought, why don’t you guys also get complete information about what NEFT is, how it works, and what are the benefits from it. Then without delay, let’s start and know about what NEFT is.
What is NEFT
Table of Contents
NEFT has a full form National Electronics Fund Transfer, It is a nationwide electronic fund transfer system whereby money is sent and received quickly from one bank account to another bank account. All NEFT settlements are handled in a batch-wise format. In this, money is sent through this system to all NEFT-enabled banks all over India on an individual basis. Before starting any NEFT transfer, the bank needs to have an IFSC code, along with it other details such as bank account number, bank branch, account holder name are also essential.
The RBI operates this fund transfer system. Which started in 2005. NEFT provides this facility to the bank’s customers in India, so that the bank’s customer can very quickly transfer their capital to another NEFT enabled bank account. It is also very safe.
Fund transfers through the NEFT system do not take place on a real-time basis but rather a half-hour batch (with 23 settlements occurring between 8:00 am and 7:30 pm on the first, third and fifth Saturdays of the NEFT week (Batch) to transfer money. Apart from this, there is no settlement on the second and fourth Saturday of the month, on Sunday or even on public holidays.
The facility of NEFT is mainly done in two types; one is an offline mode which is done in the branches of banks and second is the online mode which is available to customers by online banking and done in batches. It is prevalent due to the time saving, and NEFT does smooth process because the transactions can be done very quickly through online banking. If seen, NEFT is slightly different from other measures like RTGS and IMPS. Where your money sent in RTGS and IMPS is immediately credited to the bank account of the person in front. In the NEFT, your payment is received by the bank in the time-table set by the bank.
Step By Step NEFT Transfer Procedure
Online Procedure for NEFT:
Follow the steps given below to transfer funds online.
Step 1: First login to your net banking account. If you do not have a net banking account, then you can also register it through your bank’s website.
Step 2: After that, you have to add Beneficiary according to the payee. Here recipient means that to whom you want to transfer money. And to do this, you will also have to fill some details of Beneficiary in the ‘Add New Payee’ section, which is:
- Account Number.
- Name
- IFSC Code.
- Account Type.
Step 3: Once the payee is added, then you have to choose NEFT according to the fund transfer mode.
Step 4: Now you have to select the account where you have to transfer money, here you have to choose payee, after that enter amount as you want to transfer and then add comments (optional).
Step 5: Then click on submit.
Offline Procedure for NEFT:
Step 1: Go to the bank first.
Step 2: Fill the NEFT / RTGS form there. Then provide the following details about your Beneficiary in that form:
- Name.
- Account Number.
- Bank Name.
- Branch.
- IFSC Code.
- Account Type.
- Account Number.
- Amount as much as you have to transfer.
Step 3: After that, submit your filled form so that they can further authorize to transfer the money.
How Does NEFT Work?
Here I have tried to explain to you the generic process of NEFT transfer, but these specifics can vary in different banks, yet this process is almost the same.
1. As I have already told you how you have to fill the form in details through online or offline mode, you have to provide complete information about the Beneficiary, with this, how the bank authorizes it and processes it further.
2. After this, your bank issues a message and then sends it to their NEFT Service Center.
3. NEFT this message forwards from your bank to NEFT Clearing Center which is operated by National Clearing Cell and is a part of Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai and includes it next available. Branch of Transaction.
4. After this NEFT Clearing Center sorts all the fund transfer transactions according to its banks and decorates those entries in such a way that the bank on which your money is going to be sorted very quickly.
4. NEFT Service Center then receives messages where they get all the entries sorted, along with this they also get news about money from NEFT Clearing Center, where they are instructed to send funds to the Receiver’s account.
NEFT Transfer’s fees
The thing to note here is that the recipient bank does not charge you any fees for the NEFT transaction. But for a sender, sending bank charges them for NEFT Transaction. You will get the following information about how much they cost.
| Transaction Amount | NEFT Charges |
| Amounts Rs 10000 up to | Rs 2.50 + Applicable GST |
| Amounts above Rs 10000 and up to Rs 1 lakh up to | Rs 5 + Applicable GST |
| Amounts above Rs 1 lakh and up to Rs 2 lakh up to | Rs 15 + Applicable GST |
| Amounts above Rs 2 lakh and up to Rs 5 lakh up to | Rs 25 + Applicable GST |
| Amounts above Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 10 lakh up to | Rs 25 + Applicable GST |
Timings of NEFT Transactions:
Speaking of the present time, NEFT works in hourly batches, so these service centers work between the operational hours which is normal (8:00 am to 7:00 pm on regular weekdays and Saturdays from 8 am to 1 pm In). There are 8 to 6 batches to work with. Hence money is transferred from 8:00 am to 6:30 pm from Monday to Saturdays (except on 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month). Apart from this, NEFT transactions do not work even in public and bank holidays.
Public Holidays when NEFT transactions cannot be completed are Republic Day, Good Friday, Annual Closing of Banks, RBI’s Annual Closing of Accounts, Ramzan Id (Id-ul-Fitr) / Ratha Yatra, Independence Day, Dasara / Vijaya Dashami and Muharram.
Who can transfer funds through NEFT?
Any Firm, Individual, Corporation can use NEFT to transfer funds from one Bank Account to another Bank Account. Still, the thing to note is that they should have a Bank Account in that Bank Branch and NEFT in that Bank Branch Facility should also be Enable / Available.
Apart from this, I also know that it is not compulsory to have a bank account. If someone does not have a bank account in the Bank Branch and still if he wants to transfer funds through NEFT, then fund transfer can be done by filling the NEFT Instruction Slip. But to transfer funds in this manner through NEFT, only Amount up to Rs 50,0000 can be transferred in a Transaction.
Who can receive funds through NEFT?
This work can be done by individuals, firms, corporations who have a bank account in the bank branch; then they can all receive the funds sent by NEFT. But for this, the Beneficiary customer must have a bank account in the bank branch in which NEFT facility is enabled / available.
What are the benefits of NEFT
- Through NEFT, any Firm, Individual, Corporation, etc. can easily send money from one account to another.
- Here the Beneficiary Customer (to whom money is sent) does not need to go to the Bank Branch to receive funds nor do any paper formalities.
- The fees in NEFT are very low.
- Fund transfer can be done from anywhere and anytime using Internet Banking. They are very safe and secure. And if for some reason your Transaction is not complete, then you do not need to panic because in such a situation your money is not lost anywhere but goes back to the account sent.
- It is more useful for low-value transactions.
Here Receiver does not have to pay any additional cost. - Each Batch here is of one hour.
NEFT FAQs
What is NEFT?
NEFT has full form National Electronic Funds Transfer, it is an electronic fund transfer process, through which money can be quickly sent from one bank account to another bank account.
Is having IFSC code mandatory for all NEFT transactions?
The answer is yes. Having IFSC code is very important for any NEFT Transaction.
Do all banks have NEFT facility?
No. NEFT is not available on all banks.
How will a customer know whether their bank or payee’s bank is a part of NEFT or not?
The banks are NEFT-enabled with all these information cones; you can get all this information from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) website.
How long do NEFT transactions take to settle?
All fund transfer transactions are processed in a batch-wise format, and the money is credited within two working days.
Top Banks that Provide NEFT Facility
- ICICI NEFT
- HDFC NEFT
- Axis Bank NEFT
- Punjab National Bank (PNB) NEFT
- Union Bank of India NEFT
- SBI NEFT
- Central Bank of India NEFT
- Bank of Baroda NEFT
- Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) NEFT
- Syndicate Bank NEFT
I sincerely hope that I have given you complete information about what is NEFT and I hope you all have understood about NEFT. I request all of you readers that you too should share this information in your neighborhood, relatives, and friends so that we will have awareness among us and everyone will benefit a lot from it. I need your support so that I can convey more new information to you.
It has always been my endeavor that I always help my readers or readers from all sides, if you people have any doubt of any kind, then you can ask me irresponsibly. I will try to solve those Doubts. What does this article NEFT give you? And how does it work? Tell us how you felt by writing a comment so that we too have a chance to learn from your thoughts and improve something.