NPCI enhances UPI 2.0, allows customers to make recurring payments

NPCI is also working on proximity payment option for the platform where one can make payments from a mobile phone that uses near-field communication technology

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is working on enhancing UPI 2.0, which is an upgrade of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), by adding a slew of features to the platform. The NPCI team made a presentation of the new value-added service at the India FinTech Forum.

UPI is an inter-bank fund transfer mechanism run by the NPCI and enables instant fund settlement through a smartphone. The new version will enable customers to make recurring payments.

The biggest unique selling point of UPI 2.0 will be its recurring mandate which would allow customers to block a certain amount of funds from their bank accounts to pay for a product or service prior to availing it. This will assure that the customer has the necessary money while making use of the service. One can book hotel rooms, airline tickets, cab rides and e-commerce deliveries, apart from subscribing to IPOs and doing other transactions.

Currently, only a one-time mandate is allowed by the Reserve Bank of India.

NPCI is also working on a proximity payment option for the platform where one can make payments from a mobile phone that uses near-field communication (NFC) technology.

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, an industry expert said, “UPI 2.0 is ready for plug and play, but the banks are taking time to adopt the updated version and RBI has also not clarified by when it will allow recurring payments on UPI.”

After multiple delays, UPI 2.0 was launched in August 2018 with some added features such as overdraft facility and the transaction limit was also doubled from Rs one lakh to Rs two lakh. However many industry players were disappointed because the much anticipated recurring payments feature was not introduced.