It is no surprise that UPI has been playing a critical role in encouraging digital payments in the country.
Post demonetisation, UPI-based online payments have soared in the country. According to a report of Inc 42, UPI has seen a massive growth in processing transactions, i.e from 0.93 million to 246 million within a time span of August 2016 to June 2018.
Also, the number of banks actively integrating with UPI has grown from 21 to 110 partner banks.
These are the reasons why UPI becoming the most preferred payment option:
- Money transfer is possible anytime (24×7×365)
- It acts as an email address for the customer’s money, which can be shared instead of bank details
- A highly secured payment option
NPCI launched UPI 2.0 in August 2018, which is an updated version of UPI.
Key features of UPI 2.0
Linking of overdraft account :
In addition to current and savings accounts, customers can link their overdraft account to UPI. Customers will be able to transact instantly and all benefits associated with overdraft account shall be made available to the users. UPI 2.0 will serve as an additional digital channel to access the overdraft account.
One-time mandate:
UPI mandate could be used in a scenario where money is to be transferred later by providing commitment at present.UPI 2.0 mandates are created with one-time block functionality for transactions. Customers can pre-authorize a transaction and pay at a later date.It works seamlessly for merchants as well as for individuals. Mandates can be created and executed instantly. On the date of actual purchase, the amount will be automatically deducted and received by the merchant/individual user.
Invoice in the inbox:
According to NPCI, this feature is designed for customers to check the invoice sent by merchant prior to making payment. It will help customers to view and verify the credentials and check whether it has come from the right merchant or not. Customers can pay after verifying the amount and other important details mentioned in the invoice.
Signed intent and QR:
This feature is designed for customers to check the authenticity of merchants while scanning QR or quick response code. It notifies the user with information to know whether the merchant is a verified UPI merchant or not. This provides an additional security. Customers will be informed in case the receiver is not secured by way of notifications.
Business cases
With the launch of 2.0, UPI has the potential to digitize the entire ecosystem around the core payment functionality. Financial institutions (FIs) can look at utilizing the enhanced version of UPI and its features for multiple P2M (Person to Merchant) transactions across innovative use cases.High-value products/services will now also become attractive for UPI transactions as the amount has been revised and capped to 2,00,000 INR. Below are few business cases.
Future Scope of UPI 2.0
A report of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) says that between 2021–22 and 2024–25, the role of cash in the payments space will be shrink. The report said that UPI will dominate the payments space with 59% payments transactions. This would be followed by mobile and internet-based payments, which will constitute a fifth of the total number of cash and non-cash transactions.
The report further said that ATM transactions are expected to comprise 5% of total transactions between 2021–22 and 2024–25. It is being reported that the change in the payments landscape is a result of an intention to move towards a ‘cash-less economy’.
UPI 2.0 with its new features has a lot to offer consumers and merchants.From a consumer perspective, the functionality of the application will increase as it widely used nowadays.One could use it to book a taxi, pay for groceries, or purchase equity investments,etc.
In the near future, we at Easebuzz, will be looking forward to provide our merchants all the features that UPI 2.0 provides. We intent to provide our merchants UPI 2.0 as a payment option.
