Nippon India MF Ends Demand Draft Subscriptions; What Payment Modes Are Available For MF Subscriptions & Their Effectiveness?

Nippon India Mutual Fund (NIMF) announced that it discontinued acceptance of Demand Draft as a payment mode for subscriptions across all its schemes from March 1, 2024. This change will be reflected in the Scheme Information Document (SID), Key Information Memorandum (KIM), and Statement of Additional Information (SAI) of all schemes, a release from the fund house said. This addendum forms an integral part of SID & KIM of all Scheme(s) of NIMF and SAI. All the other provisions, features, terms and conditions of the SIDs, KIMs & SAI except as specifically modified herein above shall remain unchanged.

Other Payment Modes

Investors can use cheques, bank transfers, NEFT, RTGS, and digital modes like Netbanking and UPI for mutual fund investments, according to Nippon India Mutual Fund. It also listed various forms of mutual fund subscription modes and the efficiency of these payment modes with different banks offering different timelines for processing payments.

UPI/ IMPS Transaction: Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) are swift electronic fund transfer mechanisms. UPI allows users to transfer money instantly between bank accounts using a UPI payment application, while IMPS enables real-time inter-bank transactions that can be accessed on multiple channels like Mobile, Internet, Branch, ATM etc. UPI/IMPS transactions through various banks typically debit investors' accounts and allot units on the same day by 2.45 pm, the fund house says.

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Net Banking: Net banking, also known as Internet banking, enables financial transactions over the Internet through the bank's website or its mobile application. Net banking channels like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI Bank and four others follow a similar timeline where allotment is done on the same day. But in the case of other banks the allotment will be done on the following day, Nippon India Mutual Fund said.

RTGS/NEFT: RTGS and NEFT transfers using any bank line ensure allotment on the application day itself, with RTGS accepting payments until 2:30 pm and NEFT until 1 pm. There is a minimum cap of Rs 2 lakh on RTGS transactions and for any amount below that one will have to use NEFT. RTGS allows for real-time transfer of funds between banks on a gross basis, allowing fund transfers and settlement immediately. But NEFT transfers money in batches and not in real-time and is settled in half-hourly intervals.

NACH Mandate & Cheques: NACH (National Automated Clearing House) Mandate, and Invest Easy mode, a direct debit facility, provide allotment on the the next day, and on T+3 day respectively. NACH allows for automatic debits from investors' bank accounts at specified intervals.

Cheque payments, similar to direct debit facility require an additional day for processing, with debit occurring in two days to investors account and allotment occurring three days post-application. However, the mutual fund house says, that in certain cases of cheque mode, the realisation may take more time due to technical issues at the Bank end or delay in deposition of cheques beyond our control.