UPI 2.0 falls short of analysts’ expectations
The 'block functionality' feature, which will enable the issuing banks to block a certain sum in an account as security, is useful only in case of credit card users, says a person familiar with the development
New Delhi: Some of the features of an upgraded version of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), UPI 2.0, have not been developed the way they were expected to, say industry experts who have viewed the demonstration of the product by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) earlier this month.
NPCI is the umbrella organization for all retail payments in the country. It also manages the UPI platform that facilitates instant fund transfer between two bank accounts on a mobile platform without requiring details of the beneficiary’s bank account.
“The industry was looking forward to the ‘standing instruction’ feature that would allow recurring payments from the user’s bank account towards loan payment or bill payment after a specific interval, enabled by a one-time digital mandate. However, the desired functionality will not be a part of the upgraded version, which will be rolled out very soon,” said a person familiar with the development.
The “block functionality” feature, which will enable the issuing banks to block a certain sum in an account as security and debit it at a future date without additional authentication, is useful only in case of credit card users and for buying stocks during IPOs, said the person quoted before.
In case of credit cards, under “block functionality” the credit limit gets blocked till the debit date, but in UPI 2.0 the funds from the bank account will get blocked. “This might not motivate a user to opt for UPI while booking hotel rooms, buying air tickets, booking cab rides and other such uses, especially at a time when there are apps offering zero cancellation charge on bookings,” the person said.
Initially, the new version is expected to be launched on beta mode, with 8-10 banks on board and the features will be tweaked according to user responses before it is commercially rolled out, said a person who was present at the presentation on condition of anonymity.
UPI 2.0 will also have additional features such as generation of collect payment requests along with invoice/bill attachment, signed intent/quick response code, addition of overdraft account type in UPI and foreign inward remittance.
Emails sent to NPCI seeking details of the launch remained unanswered till press time.
Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
MoreLess
First Published:17 Jul 2018, 11:26 PM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High