NEFT Transfer

What is NEFT Payment?

NEFT transfer or National Electronic Fund Transfer refers to the popular payments system that allows the electronic transfer of money from one account to another in the same bank or to another bank. Under the Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility Scheme, the method also facilitates the one-way transfer of funds across borders from India to Nepal. The NEFT procedure is fairly simple and easy to follow and can be availed as long as both your bank and the beneficiary’s bank are NEFT-enabled. Though the service is accessible offline too, the online NEFT transfer service, which is available 24x7, makes it extremely easy to transfer and receive funds whenever you want to. You can make credit card bill payments, loan interest payments, EMI payments, and much more using NEFT transfer.

How Does an NEFT Bank Transfer Operate?

The NEFT payment process can be done both online as well as offline.

NEFT Online Payment

• Initiate a NEFT transaction using the netbanking or mobile banking app offered by your bank
• Add the NEFT payment details of the beneficiary, i.e. the beneficiary name, bank account number, bank name, branch location, IFSC of the bank branch, etc.
• Authorise debit of your account for online NEFT transfer
• You will be provided with a NEFT transaction ID which you can use to check the NEFT status

Offline Payment Through NEFT

Alternatively, you can avail the NEFT payment method of transferring funds by visiting your bank branch. You would need to fill the NEFT transaction details in the application form. This would include details of the beneficiary, including name, bank account number, bank name, branch location, branch IFSC, etc. Once you have filled in the details required for NEFT transfer, you would need to authorise the branch to debit the funds from your account.

Once you have availed the NEFT mode of payment and initiated the transaction, the following things come into motion in the system.

• Your bank, from which you wish to transfer the money, prepares a message and sends it to the pooling centre, which is known as the NEFT Service Centre.
• Once the NEFT Service Centre receives the message, it forwards the same to the NEFT Clearing Centre, which is operated and managed by the Reserve Bank of India.
• The message requests the transaction to be included and cleared in the next available batch.
• The NEFT Clearing Centre then sorts the NEFT settlement requests as per the beneficiary bank name and prepares accounting entries so that the beneficiary bank is credited with the funds from your bank account.
• Once the entries have been made, the NEFT Service Centres help forward bank-wise remittance messages to the beneficiary banks.
• The inward remittance messages are received by the beneficiary banks, who then forward the credit to the accounts of the beneficiaries.
• Within two working hours of the batch being cleared, the beneficiary is notified that the transaction is settled, and the amount is credited.

However, in case the amount does not get credited to the beneficiary account, the recipient branch will reverse the transaction to your account within two business hours of processing it.

How to Initiate a NEFT Payment?

The stepwise NEFT payment procedures for some popular banks are mentioned below.

1. RBL Bank NEFT Transfer Process

• Login to the RBL Bank netbanking portal or mobile app.
• Under ‘Fund Transfer’, click on ‘NEFT’.
• Add the beneficiary details, including:

Beneficiary Name

Beneficiary Account Number

Bank Name

IFSC Code

Branch Location

• Verify and submit the details.
• Authenticate the NEFT transaction by allowing the deduction of funds from your bank account.

2. State Bank of India (SBI) NEFT Transfer Process

• Login to the SBI net banking portal or mobile app.
• Add the beneficiary details under third-party transfer, including:

Beneficiary Name

Beneficiary Bank Name

Beneficiary Branch Address

Beneficiary Account Number

IFSC Code

• Verify and authenticate the deduction of funds from your bank account.

3. Axis Bank NEFT Transfer Process

• Login to the Axis Bank netbanking portal or mobile app.
• Go to ‘Payments’ and select NEFT as your mode of payment.
• Enter the following details in their respective fields:

Beneficiary Name

Beneficiary Bank Name

Beneficiary Branch Name

Beneficiary Account Number

IFSC Code

• Click on ‘Submit’.

4. Citibank NEFT Transfer Process

• Login to the Citibank netbanking portal or mobile app.
• Under ‘Fund Transfer’, select NEFT.
• Enter the following details in their respective fields:

Beneficiary Name

Beneficiary Bank Name

Beneficiary Branch Name

Beneficiary Account Number

IFSC Code

• Choose the account for payment.
• Click ‘Confirm’.

5. HDFC Bank NEFT Transfer Process

• Login to the HDFC Bank netbanking portal or mobile app.
• Select ‘NEFT’ from the ‘Funds Transfer’ tab.
• Select ‘Add New Beneficiary’ and enter the following details in their respective fields:

Beneficiary Name

Beneficiary Bank Name

Beneficiary Branch Name

Beneficiary Account Number

IFSC Code

• After you have successfully added the beneficiary, enter the amount you wish to transfer.
• Accept the terms and conditions and click on ‘Pay’.

NEFT Customer Facilitation Centre Details

At any point in time, post initiating money transfer through NEFT, you can track the NEFT transfer status by contacting your bank’s NEFT Customer Facilitation Centre (CFC). The beneficiary too can track the NEFT payment status by contacting their bank’s CFC. However, do note that you would need to provide the NEFT transaction number to the CFC team to track the NEFT status.