4 New UPI Features Launched: Credit line On UPI, UPI Lite X, Tap & Pay & Hello UPI

Just a week after UPI transactions in India hit an all-time high of 10 billion in August, the NPCI is now aiming to scale up UPI transactions from the current figure of 10 billion per month to 100 billion per month.

Towards the same, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates the UPI network, has launched four new UPI products.

NPCI Announces New UPI Features

Hon¡¯ble RBI Governor, @DasShaktikanta launches key digital payment initiatives at GFF¡¯23.

To know more, visit: https://t.co/vaUqfsyDFz¡­ #NPCIGFF2023 @IAMAIForum @PCIUpdates @FCCUpdates @gff_2023 pic.twitter.com/forcTl2BJv

¡ª NPCI (@NPCI_NPCI) September 6, 2023

To boost the digital inclusivity of UPI, the new features launched include a credit line on UPI, UPI Lite X for offline payments and a near field communication (NFC)-enabled Tap & Pay feature, conversational payments through Hello! UPI as well as conversational bill payments with BillPay Connect.

The new launches come just a day after NPCI chief Dilip Asbe said at the Global Fintech Festival 2023 that UPI had the potential to scale almost ten times and reach a couple of billion transactions a day by 2030.

Also Read: Anand Mahindra's Tweet On Launch Of India's First UPI ATM Goes Viral

Explaining The 4 New UPI Features

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Also Read: Explained: How RBIs Digital Rupee (e?) Is Different From UPI

1.Credit line on UPI

Through the credit line on UPI, the payment service will allow users to pay for transactions through credit, by connecting pre-sanctioned digital credit lines from banks. Further, the payment flow will be the same as existing UPI transactions for the new feature.

According to NPCI, through ¡®credit line on UPI¡¯ the process of availing, connecting, and utilising credit lines will be significantly expedited.

This is also expected to give a leg-up to banks and financial institutions to directly provide credit to a wider base of customers than depend on credit apps for distribution. Third-party payment providers Paytm, Google Pay and HDFC PayZapp will be the first to launch the ¡®credit line on UPI¡¯ service.

NPCI chief Asbe, as per ET report, said India¡¯s credit market will grow tenfold by the end of this decade. He added that ¡®sachetisation of credit¡¯ is coming, and that the UPI operator is working with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank to ensure full digital onboarding.

¡°There is opportunity to make credit available real-time and we are working on a service layer to empower customers to manage and use credit,¡± he said.

2.UPI Lite X

UPI-operator NPCI on Wednesday launched UPI Lite X for offline payments, which will allow users to both send and receive money while being completely offline, opening the use-case to even flights, underground metro stations and other merchant locations.

Last year, NPCI launched UPI Lite, which allowed users to make small-ticket transactions without entering the pin. UPI Lite X is an extension of this service.

3. UPI Tap & Pay

Along with Lite X, NPCI also launched UPI Tap & Pay, which allows users to make near field communication (NFC)-based payments.

This follows the launch earlier this week by rivals Pine Labs and Paytm of new variants of their point-of-sale (PoS) devices that allow merchants to accept NFC-based merchants, opening the acceptance of the use-case.

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4.Conversational Payments ¨C Hello! UPI & BillPay Connect

NPCI has also forayed into conversational payments with its UPI service launching Hello! UPI and BillPay Connect. Last month it was reported that NPCI was building a voice bot interactive system for Indian consumers to make payments via UPI.

On Wednesday, NPCI launched Hello! UPI which will allow users to make voice-enabled UPI payments via UPI Apps, telecom calls, and IoT (internet of things) devices in Hindi and English. It is looking to launch the service in regional languages as well.

With BillPay Connect, Bharat BillPay introduces a nationalized number for bill payments across India. Customers can now conveniently fetch and pay their bills 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.

UPI Transactions Hit All-Time High In August

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At present, UPI is used by 350 million individuals, according to NPCI. UPI had a historic mark last month. In the month of August, UPI crossed the historical mark of 10 billion (or 1,000 crore) transactions for the first time ever, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) tweeted last week. UPI transactions involving Rs 15.76 lakh crore were done in August.

Also Read: ICICI Bank Becomes India's First Lender To Introduce EMIs On UPI

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