Mumbai: In another major push for digital payments in the country, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Wednesday launched a slew of new payment options on popular payments platform UPI, including conversational transactions. The announcements were made by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das at the ongoing Global Fintech Festival. The key products launched are: Credit Line on UPI, UPI LITE X and Tap & Pay, Hello! UPI – Conversational Payments on UPI, BillPay Connect – Conversational Bill Payments. It is to be noted that NPCI had launched UPI lite last year to enable the offline payments.
One of the products is Hello! UPI that will enable users to make voice-enabled UPI payments via apps, telecom calls, and IoT devices in Hindi and English. It will soon be available in several other regional languages also. ‘Hello UPI’ will allow users to make payments by engaging in conversations with their smartphones — whether it’s splitting a restaurant bill, sending money to a friend, or settling utility bills.
NPCI said the credit line on UPI facility will enable customers access pre-sanctioned credit from banks via UPI. Separately, users will be able to send and receive money offline using the other product, LITE X product.
Further, the UPI Tap & Pay facility, in addition to the conventional scan-and-pay method, will allow customers to simply tap Near Field Communication- (NFC-) enabled QR codes at merchant locations to complete their payments.
The products are aimed at creating an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable digital payments ecosystem and help UPI achieve the target of 100 billion transaction per month, according to the NPCI.
NPCI Advisor and Non-Executive Chairman of Infosys Nandan Nilekani, and NPCI Non-Executive Chairman Biswamohan Mahapatra were also present at the launch. Nilekani termed the NPCI as a “crown jewel” in the Indian technology landscape.
To ensure seamless interoperability, all UPI apps, including bank and third-party apps, will be able to discover and link credit lines on UPI, and provide end-to-end customer lifecycle services, NPCI said.
Credit Line on UPI
To expand access to credit, promote financial inclusion and innovation, the RBI Governor launched Credit Line on UPI. This new offering enables pre-sanctioned credit lines from banks via UPI and will revolutionize customer access to credit, fostering a more streamlined and digital banking ecosystem.
The initiative encompasses several key features, including the linkage of pre-sanctioned credit lines, the creation of digital credit products by banks, the establishment of interest-free credit periods and corresponding interest rates, defined schedule of charges, customer engagement channels for credit sanction requests, and the ability to link various pre-sanctioned credit lines via UPI-enabled apps for transactions.
UPI LITE X and Tap & Pay
Building on the success of UPI LITE feature, the RBI Governor launched UPI LITE X for Offline payments.
Through this feature, users can now both send and receive money whilst being completely offline, therefore, allowing users to initiate and execute transactions even in areas with poor connectivity, such as underground stations, remote areas, etc. UPI LITE X will be accessible to anyone with a compatible device that supports Near Field Communication (NFC). UPI LITE payments are faster than other payment methods, as they require less time to process the transaction.
QR codes have seamlessly integrated into the UPI payments ecosystem, playing a crucial role in facilitating digital transactions. In a significant move towards enhancing QR code and Near Field.
In addition to the conventional Scan and Pay method, users now have the option to simply tap NFCenabled QR codes at merchant locations to complete their payments.
Conversational Payments: Hello! UPI
Through this product, NPCI enables users to simply give voice commands to transfer funds and input UPI PIN to complete the transaction. For this project, NPCI has partnered with the Bhashini program – AI4Bharat at IIT Madras, to co-develop Hindi and English payment language models. The introduction of conversational UPI payments will augment user experience by enabling them to make voice-enabled UPI payments via UPI Apps, telecom calls, and IoT devices in Hindi and English, and will soon be available in several other regional languages, NPCI said at the launch.
BillPay Connect – Conversational Bill Payments:
With BillPay Connect, Bharat BillPay introduces a nationalized number for bill payments across India. Customers will be conveniently fetch and pay their bills by sending a simple ‘Hi’ on the messaging app. Along with this, customers without smartphones or immediate mobile data access will be able to pay bills by giving a missed call. Customers will receive an immediate call back for verification and payment authorization. Additionally, BillPay Connect offers Voice Assisted Bill Payments facility. Customers can fetch and pay bills through voice commands on their smart home devices and get instant voice confirmation.