How will Rupay credit cards linkage, UPI Lite, Bharat BillPay cross-border payments help customers
The digital payment initiative gives the potential to revolutionize the digital payments ecosystem and extend the reach of digital payments to many new users across India and abroad.
In a major move to take India's digital payments journey to the next level, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das has launched three key initiatives namely RuPay credit card on UPI, UPI LITE, and Bharat BillPay cross-border bill payments. The move is expected to help both Indian citizens and NRIs as it covers nearly all customer segments. The initiative gives the potential to revolutionize the digital payments ecosystem and extend the reach of digital payments to many new users across India and abroad.
Talking about the initiative, Sumit Gwalani, Co-founder of Fi Money, a neo-bank, said, "The digital payment initiatives recently launched by the RBI and NPCI build on UPI’s phenomenal success and together cover nearly all customer segments from low-value debit transactions to high-value credit and cross-border payments."
In July, UPI crossed 6 billion transactions in July which is the highest ever since 2016. During August month, digital payment transactions via UPI stood at ₹10.73 lakh crore in value terms, while in volumes the transaction was at 6.57 billion.
Here's how customers will benefit from these digital payments initiatives:
Linkage of RuPay Credit Card on UPI
The first one is linking RuPay credit cards to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform. According to NPCI's statement, customers here will benefit from increased opportunity to use their credit cards, and merchants will benefit from the increase in consumption by being part of the credit ecosystem with the acceptance of credit cards using assets like QR codes.
RuPay credit cards will be linked to a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) i.e. UPI ID.
In the initial phase, customers of Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, and Indian Bank will be the first to be able to use RuPay Credit Card on UPI with BHIM App.
Fi Money co-founder said, "Linking credit cards with UPI will make low-value credit transactions more feasible which can significantly deepen credit card penetration in India. It means wider access to formal credit, allowing more people to benefit from responsible credit usage."
UPI Lite
UPI Lite on BHIM App will allow users to make small-value transactions in a near-offline mode. Under the UPI Lite payment, the upper limit for a transaction will be ₹200, meanwhile, the total limit of UPI Lite balance for an on-device wallet will be ₹2,000 at any point in time.
Currently, eight banks are live with the feature. These are -- Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India Union Bank of India, and Utkarsh Small Finance Bank.
On UPI Lite, Gwalani said, "UPI Lite will greatly benefit people in areas with limited internet connectivity and can convert a large portion of cash transactions to digital payments. Apart from enabling faster transactions, it can also reduce failure rates by taking a load of low-value-high-volume transactions offline."
Bharat BillPay Cross-Border Bill Payments
Lastly, Bharat BillPay cross-border bill payments are launched to make bill payments easier for people residing out of India but also maintaining a house in India, aka Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
The facility will empower and enable NRIs to undertake utility, water, and telephone-related bill payments on behalf of their families in India. In the initial stage, Federal Bank with UAE’s Lulu Exchange will be the first to go live with Bharat BillPay cross-border bill payments facility.
The Fi Money co-founder said, "Enabling cross-border payments on Bharat BillPay makes such transactions far more efficient and represents a major step towards a more connected financial ecosystem. It provides NRIs with more control and convenience while reducing the cost of such transactions."
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint.
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