Q.1. WHAT IS NEFT SYSTEM?
Ans: National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) system is a nation wide
funds transfer system to facilitate transfer of funds from any bank branch to
any other bank branch.
Q. 2. ARE ALL BANK BRANCHES IN THE SYSTEM PART OF THE FUNDS TRANSFER
NETWORK?
Ans: No. As on December 31, 2007, 34702 branches of 82 banks are
participating. Steps are being taken to widen the coverage both in terms of
banks and branches. List of Canara Bank branches, which are offering this
service can be found on our website
Q.3. WHETHER THE SYSTEM IS CENTRE SPECIFIC OR HAS ANY GEOGRAPHICAL
RESTRICTION?
Ans: No, there is no restriction of centres or of any geographical area
inside the country. The system uses the concept of centralised accounting
system and the bank's account, that are sending or receiving the funds transfer
instructions, gets operated at one centre, viz, Mumbai only. The individual
branches participating in NEFT could be located anywhere across the country, as
detailed in the list provided on our website.
Q.4. WHAT IS THE FUNDS AVAILABILITY SCHEDULE FOR THE BENEFICIARY?
Ans: The beneficiary gets the credit on the same Day or the next Day
depending on the time of settlement.
Q.5. HOW DOES THE NEFT SYSTEM OPERATE?
Step-1: The remitter fills in the NEFT Application form giving the particulars
of the beneficiary (bank-branch, beneficiary's name, account type and account
number) and authorises the branch to remit the specified amount to the
beneficiary by raising a debit to the remitter's account. (This can also be
done by using net banking services offered by some of the banks.)
Step-2: The remitting branch prepares a Structured Financial Messaging Solution
(SFMS) message and sends it to its Service Centre for NEFT.
Step-3: The Service Centre forwards the same to the local RBI (National
Clearing Cell, Mumbai) to be included for the next available settlement.
Presently, NEFT is settled in six batches at 0930, 1030, 1200, 1300, 1500 and
1600 hours on weekdays and 0930, 1030 and 1200 hours on Saturdays
Step-4: The RBI at the clearing centre sorts the transactions bank-wise and
prepares accounting entries of net debit or credit for passing on to the banks
participating in the system. Thereafter, bank-wise remittance messages are
transmitted to banks.
Step-5: The receiving banks process the remittance messages received from RBI
and effect the credit to the beneficiaries' accounts.
Q.6. HOW IS THIS NEFT SYSTEM AN IMPROVEMENT OVER THE EXISTING RBI-EFT
SYSTEM?
Ans: The RBI-EFT system is confined to the 15 centres where RBI is
providing the facility, where as there is no such restriction in NEFT as it is
based on the centralised concept. The detailed list of branches of various
banks participating in NEFT system is available on our website. The system also
uses the state-of-the-art technology for the communication, security etc, and
thereby offers better customer service.
Q.7. HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM RTGS AND EFT?
Ans: NEFT is an electronic payment system to transfer funds from any
part of country to any other part of the country and works on Net settlement,
unlike RTGS that works on gross settlement and EFT which is restricted to the
fifteen centers only where RBI offices are located.
Q.8. ANY LIMIT ON THE AMOUNT OF INDIVIDUAL TRANSACTION?
Ans: There is no value limit for individual transactions.
Q.9. WHAT ABOUT PROCESSING CHARGES/SERVICE CHARGES
Ans: Processing Charges / Service Charges for NEFT can be found on our
website
Q.10. HOW WILL I KNOW WHICH ARE THE BRANCHES PARTICIPATING IN THE NEFT?
Ans: RBI publishes the list of bank branches participating in the NEFT
on its website i.e. https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/neft.aspx. List of Canara
Bank branches which are offering NEFT service can be found on our website.
Q.11. WHAT IS IFS CODE (IFSC)? HOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM MICR CODE?
Ans: Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) is an alpha numeric code
designed to uniquely identify the bank-branches in India . This is 11 digit
code with first 4 characters representing the banks code, the next character
reserved as control character (Presently 0 appears in the fifth position) and
remaining 6 characters to identify the branch. The MICR code has 9 digits to
identify the bank-branch.
Q.12. HOW I WILL KNOW, WHAT IS THE IFS CODE OF MY BANK-BRANCH?
Ans: RBI had since advised all the banks to print IFSC on cheques leaves
issued to their customers. You may also contact your bank-branch and get the
IFS Code of that branch. IFSC Code of Canara Bank branches can be found on our
website
Q.13. WHOM I CAN CONTACT, IN CASE OF NON-CREDIT OR DELAY IN CREDIT TO THE
BENEFICIARY ACCOUNT?
Ans: Contact your bank / branch. If the issue is not resolved
satisfactorily, the Customer Service Section of our Bank may be contacted at-
THE DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER,
CANARA BANK,
CUSTOMER SERVICE SECTION
M & CRM WING, HEAD OFFICE
112, J C ROAD
BANGALORE – 560 002
or send an e-mail to
hocss@canbank.co.in
Q.14. IS IT NECESSARY TO HAVE A BANK ACCOUNT TO ORIGINATE THE NEFT
TRANSACTION?
Ans: Yes, NEFT is an account to account funds transfer system. However,
for remittance upto Rs. 50,000/- originator of the transaction need not have an
account
Q.15. IS IT NECESSARY THAT THE BENEFICIARY SHOULD HAVE AN ACCOUNT AT THE
DESTINATION BANK-BRANCH?
Ans: Yes, NEFT is an account to account funds transfer system.
Q.16. CAN I RECEIVE FOREIGN REMITTANCES THROUGH NEFT?
Ans: This system can be used only for remitting Indian Rupee among the
participating banks within the country.
Q.17. CAN I SEND REMITTANCES ABROAD USING THE NEFT?
Ans: No
Q.18. CAN I ORIGINATE A TRANSACTION TO RECEIVE FUNDS FROM ANOTHER ACCOUNT?
Ans: No
Q.19. CAN I SEND/RECEIVE FUNDS FROM/TO NRI ACCOUNTS?
Ans: Yes, subject to applicability of provisions of FEMA
Q.20. WOULD THE CUSTOMER RECEIVE AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF MONEY CREDITED TO
THE BENEFICIARY?
Ans: No, however electronic acknowledgement is generated for the
customer that his money is received by the beneficiary at the sender branch.
Q.21. WOULD THE REMITTING CUSTOMER GET BACK THE MONEY IF IT IS NOT CREDITED
TO THE BENEFICIARY’S ACCOUNT?
Ans: Yes, the remitting customer gets back the money if it is not
credited to the beneficiary account.
Q.22. TILL WHAT TIME NEFT SERVICE WINDOW IS AVAILABLE?
Ans: There are six settlements at 0900, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1500 and 1700
hours on weekdays and 0900, 1100 and 1200 hours on Saturdays.
Q.23. WHAT IS THE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION THAT THE REMITTING CUSTOMER WOULD
HAVE TO FURNISH FOR THE REMITTANCE TO BE EFFECTED?
Ans: The essential information that the remitting customer has to
furnish is: