‘Tap to Pay’ for UPI payments

‘Tap to Pay’ for UPI payments

Part of: Prelims and GS III – Information Technology; Digital economy

Context: Google Pay in collaboration with Pine Labs announced the launch of Tap to Pay for UPI .

• So far, Tap to Pay was only available for cards.

Key takeaways 

• To complete a payment, all a user will need to do is tap their phone on the POS terminal and authenticate the payment from their phone, using their UPI PIN.
• It will make the process virtually instantaneous, as compared to scanning a QR code, or entering the UPI-linked mobile number.
• The functionality will be available to any UPI user who wants to use their NFC-enabled Android smartphone to transact using any Pine Labs Android POS terminal across the country. 
• This was piloted with Reliance Retail and will now be available at other large merchants such as Future Retail and Starbucks.

What is Unified Payments Interface (UPI)?

• UPI is a payment system launched in April 2016 by National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI), that allows money transfer between any two bank accounts by using a smartphone.
• It facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly using a virtual payment address created by the customer.
• UPI allows a customer to pay directly from a bank account to different merchants, both online and offline, without the hassle of typing card or bank details.
• It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience.
• UPI is built over the IMPS infrastructure
•  BHIM UPI in 2020-21 has processed 22 billion transactions worth Rs 41 lakh crore.

News Source: TH