Mobile wallet providers in India will be able to perform direct money transfers to other providers’ apps without having to go through a traditional bank, following new guidelines reportedly being shaped by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The Economic Times (ET) reported the organisation is set to finalise new framework measures and allow direct transfer between wallets within the next two to three months.

Sending money between apps supplied by different vendors currently requires the use of an intermediary bank with access to the country’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) – a set of standards introduced by the RBI to enable banks to perform payment transfers to accounts held with other companies.

As part of a wider initiative in the country to expand the reach of digital payments, the RBI is looking to expand access to the interface so wallet providers can increase the range of services they can offer and reach a wider demographic.

The RBI will also set the interchange fees providers can charge each other.

According to the ET’s sources, although the opening of UPIs will mean wallet providers could cut out traditional banks for many transactions, they believe the relationship will likely remain due to much of the money moved being transferred from, or to, an underlying bank account.