Tag: npci

Government to Delay Digital Payments Market Share Cap, Helping Walmart-Backed PhonePe, Google Pay

India will again delay caps on market share for a popular digital payments method, two sources told Reuters, benefiting Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe as the authorities prioritise growth over concerns about market concentration.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the quasi-regulator, will extend by as much as two years a year-end deadline to cap at 30 percent the market share of any company processing payments via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), the sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

PhonePe’s share of UPI payments has risen to 48.3 percent from 37 percent in April 2020, while Google Pay’s share has declined to 37.4 percent from 44 percent, according to NPCI data. The two processed a combined 11.5 billion transactions in April, the data showed.

NPCI and Google Pay declined to comment. PhonePe did not respond to an email seeking comment.

India launched UPI in 2016 but barred companies from charging for the instant digital payments service in an effort to promote online transactions and reduce the use of cash in Asia’s third-largest economy.

Because they cannot charge for it, India’s banks and others like Meta-owned WhatsApp and Amazon Pay have not pushed UPI-based payments aggressively, leaving authorities worried about a concentration risk.

While their apps do not earn money from the payments, PhonePe and Google Pay have been able to use their UPI customer base to sell services such as loans and insurance.

NPCI, which has a regulatory mandate from the central bank, announced the 30 percent cap in 2020 but later extended the deadline by two years to the end of 2024.

The deadline will have to be extended again, said one of the sources, as it is not possible for PhonePe and Google Pay to reduce their market shares without hurting UPI payments growth.

A final decision on the extension will be communicated closer to the deadline, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because they are not allowed to speak to the media.

NPCI had hoped for more competition when WhatsApp was permitted to offer UPI-based payments in February 2020, but the company had just 0.2 percent market share as of April.

India’s Paytm, with the third-highest share, has experienced a decline in payments processed through its platforms after regulators placed curbs on a group entity.

Payment firms want the market-share cap removed, asking NPCI to let them charge for UPI payments to encourage competition, said an official at a payment company.

The government will decide whether to allow firms to charge for UPI payments, the two sources said, but one said NPCI does not favour removing the share cap.

The volume of UPI transactions rose 49.5 percent in April from a year earlier, less than the 54 percent rise logged March.

The central bank met on Tuesday with industry executives to brainstorm on ways to expand the UPI user base, which was about 300 million users and 50 million merchants late last year, according to the most recent data.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Paytm Gets Third-Party UPI App License From NPCI as Payments Bank Ceases Operations

Indian digital payments firm Paytm, formally known as One 97 Communications, was on Thursday granted a third-party application provider license by the country’s payments authority, which will enable it to facilitate payments after its banking unit ceases operations.

The license will allow customers to continue using the Paytm app for payments through India’s popular unified payment interface (UPI), after Paytm Payments Bank ceases operations by March 15, following regulatory action due to non-compliance with certain norms.

Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Yes Bank will act as payment system provider banks to Paytm, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said in a statement.

Yes Bank shall also act as a merchant acquiring bank for existing and new UPI merchants for Paytm, it added.

Paytm has been advised to complete the migration for all existing handles and mandates, wherever required, to new payment system provider banks at the earliest, the NPCI said.

UPI is India’s real-time payments system that allows users to transfer money across banks.

Paytm, the third-largest app for UPI payments in the country, processed 1.41 billion monthly transactions worth 1.65 trillion rupees in February, down from 1.57 billion transactions worth 1.93 trillion in January, according to data on the NPCI website.

PhonePe and Google Pay are the two largest UPI payment apps in India.

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked the NPCI to examine a request from Paytm to become a third-party application provider.

Early this week, Reuters was the first to report that the NCPI was likely to approve a third-party application provider (TPAP) license for Paytm.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

India Moves Forward in Blockchain, AI Research as NPCI and IISc Join Forces

India, despite its sceptic stance towards cryptocurrencies, is all in favour of conducting research and development around blockchain – the underlaying technology that powers cryptocurrencies. In a fresh development, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has joined forces with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. The aim of this partnership is to conduct research around emerging technologies like blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Both the parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) officiating this collaboration.

The NPCI, as its name suggests, is an RBI initiative focussed on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through technologies. The IISc, on the other hand, is among India’s premier institutes for advanced scientific and technological research – established in 1909. Both these parties together, will work on developing scalable blockchain platforms. A multi-modal analytics platform to oversee fintech data will also be in the works as part of this collab.

“As our nation progresses towards digital sustainability, we recognize the significant potential for research in deep technologies such as blockchain and AI to further enhance the payment landscape,” Vishal Kanvaty, Chief Technology Officer, NPCI said in an official statement.

Blockchains are digital ledgers that record transactions across multiple computers instead of storing the data on one single network or server. Replacing traditional networks with blockchains would increase the security quotient offered by protocols against record tampering and hacks. The NPCI’s quest to understanding the blockchain technology deeply is not new. Last year, the NCPI had announced the launch of Falcon — an open-source project that aims to simplify the management and use of blockchains.

Back in 2020, the NPCI designed ‘Vajra’, a blockchain-based system for automating payment clearing and settlement processes for NPCI products. In April 2023, a dedicated impact lab aimed at developing and working around blockchain technology has been set up at the Hyderabad campus of the Indian School of Business (ISB).

The government of Telangana also entered into an agreement with the Bharat Web3 Association last February to stir discussions around blockchain technology. As part of this research, the NPCI and the IISc will also conduct research and development around cryptography and machine learning (ML).

“The joint research envisioned between NPCI researchers and IISc faculty members provides a unique opportunity for translational research that can enhance the scalability and effectiveness of the billion-scale platforms managed by NPCI,” said Professor Yogesh Simmhan, Associate Professor at the Department of Computational and Data Sciences, IISc.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

RBI Moves to Ensure UPI Transactions on Paytm Continue to Work After Strictures on Paytm Payments Bank

The Reserve Bank of India said on Friday it has asked the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to examine a request from Paytm, formally known as One 97 Communications, to become a third party application provider (TPAP).

If approved, this would allow Paytm to continue processing payments via India’s popular unified payments interface (UPI), but will need a set of newly identified banks to back the app.

The NPCI should facilitate four to five banks, with an ability to process high volumes of UPI payments, to act as service providers to Paytm, the RBI said of Friday.

“No new users are to be added by the said TPAP until all the existing users are migrated satisfactorily to a new handle,” the RBI said.

Last month, the central bank asked Paytm Payments Bank, an associate of Paytm, to wind down its business by March 15, leading to disruption for the popular payment app, which used the banking unit at the back end.

Paytm is the third largest app for UPI payments in the country, processing 1.6 billion monthly transactions, according to data available on the NPCI website. PhonePe and Google Pay are the two largest.

To keep Paytm QR codes running, the company may open settlement accounts with one or more banks, the RBI said.

Paytm said last week it had signed on Axis Bank to act as a banking partner.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

For details of the latest launches and news from Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, Oppo and other companies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, visit our MWC 2024 hub.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

UPI Services Roll Out in Sri Lanka, Mauritius: Details

India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) services were on Monday rolled out in Sri Lanka and Mauritius, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing it as linking historic ties with modern digital technology.

India’s RuPay card services were also launched in Mauritius at a virtual ceremony attended by Prime Minister Modi, his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

In his remarks, Modi hoped the new fintech services would help the two nations and said the UPI is implementing “new responsibilities of uniting partners with India”.

“Today is a special day for the three friendly countries of the Indian Ocean Region as we are linking our historic ties with modern digital technology,” he said.

“I believe that Sri Lanka and Mauritius will benefit from the UPI system,” Modi said.

The prime minister said digital public infrastructure has brought about a revolutionary change in India. He also highlighted India’s focus on its “neighbourhood first policy”.

“Be it a natural disaster, health-related, economic or supporting on the international stage, India has been the first responder, and will continue to be so,” he said.

The launch of the Indian services in Sri Lanka and Mauritius came amid New Delhi’s increasing bilateral economic ties with the two countries.

The move enables the availability of UPI settlement services for Indian nationals travelling to Sri Lanka and Mauritius as well as for Mauritian nationals travelling to India.

Developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI is an instant real-time payment system to facilitate inter-bank transactions through mobile phones. RuPay is a global card payment network from India, with wide acceptance at shops, ATMs, and online.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Google Pay, NPCI Sign MoU to Expand UPI Globally, Aim to Ease Digital Payments Abroad

Google Pay and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will work together to expand Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the instant payments system widely used in the country, to international markets, Google and NPCI confirmed Wednesday. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Google Pay India and NPCI subsidiary, NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), to bring the instant payment functionality to other countries. UPI has become a widespread mode of digital payment throughout India in recent years, with interoperability between payments apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. The value processed via UPI payments in 2023 stood at Rs. 167 lakh crores, according to Google.

The MoU signed between Google Pay India and NIPL primarily seeks to ease digital payments abroad for travellers outside of India. The collaboration will also aid in establishing a UPI-style digital payments infrastructure in other countries, a press release for the announcement said. Additionally, Google and NPCI also aim to leverage the UPI infrastructure to ease the process of remittances between countries, thus simplifying cross-border financial exchanges.

“UPI has demonstrated to the world the step change that happens in economies with the introduction of interoperable, population scale digital infrastructure and each economy that joins such networks will create impact beyond the sum of parts,” Deeksha Kaushal, director of partnerships at Google Pay India said.

According to the press release, the initiative will also help bring Indian customers to foreign merchants, reducing the need for credit or forex cards and instead allow UPI apps like Google Pay for international digital payments. “This strategic partnership will not only simplify foreign transactions for Indian travellers but will also allow us to extend our knowledge and expertise of operating a successful digital payments ecosystem to other countries,” Ritesh Shukla, CEO of NPCI International Payments Limited, said.

Last year, Google Pay introduced a UPI Lite feature on its platform that enables small-value digital payments with just one tap, without the need to enter the UPI PIN, as required in regular transactions. UPI Lite supports a maximum instant transaction of up to Rs. 200 at a time. Users can load their UPI Lite account with up to Rs. 2,000, twice a day.

In August, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the UPI Lite transaction limit from Rs. 200 to Rs. 500. The overall wallet limit, however, was retained at Rs. 2,000 only. A month later, NPCI said that UPI transactions had crossed the 10-billion mark in August. According to the NPCI data, number of UPI transactions stood at 10.24 billion on August 30. In value terms, the transactions amounted to Rs. 15,18,456.4 crore exchanging hands.

Google I/O 2023 saw the search giant repeatedly tell us that it cares about AI, alongside the launch of its first foldable phone and Pixel-branded tablet. This year, the company is going to supercharge its apps, services, and Android operating system with AI technology. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Paytm Disbursed Over Rs. 5,500 Crore in Loans; While UPI Crosses 10 Billion Transactions in August

Fintech major Paytm on Tuesday said it disbursed $667 million (Rs. 5,517 crore) loans through its platform and deployed 87 lakh devices for offline payments in August. 

The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led fintech platform said in a regulatory filing that on an average 9.4 crore users transacted through Paytm monthly during July and August this year, which was 20 percent higher than the average number of users recorded during the same period last year.

“Our loan distribution business (in partnership with our lender partners) continues to gain scale with disbursements of Rs. 10,710 crore (y-o-y growth of 137 percent) and 88 lakh loans (y-o-y growth of 47 percent) disbursed in quarter to date for the month of July and August 2023 combined, through the Paytm platform,” the company shared in its operating performance report for August.

The number of merchants paying subscription for payment devices stood at 87 lakh as of August 2023, which is an increase of 42 lakh devices year-on-year, Paytm added.

Merchant Payment Volumes (GMV) for the Antfin-backed firm stood at Rs. 3 lakh crore during July and August, registering an on-year growth of 43 percent.

Meanwhile, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions crossed 10 billion mark in August, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) said. 

NPCI is an umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in India. UPI is used for immediate money transfer through mobile devices round the clock.

“Drumroll please! UPI has just shattered records with an astonishing 10 billion plus transactions. Join us in celebrating this incredible milestone and the power of digital payments. Let’s keep the momentum going and continue to revolutionize the way we make transactions with UPI!,” NPCI said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

According to the NPCI data, the UPI transactions on August 30 stood at 10.24 billion. In value terms, the transaction had totalled Rs. 15,18,456.4 crore.

The number of UPI transactions in July was 9.96 billion (996.4 crore), up from 9.33 billion in June. In value terms, the transactions totalled Rs. 15,33,645.20 crore.

UPI (Unified Payment Interface) is an instant payment system that allows users to instantly transfer money to any bank account. 

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

NPCI Launches India’s Own Blockchain-Backed Open-Source Project ‘Falcon’: All Details

India has maintained a rather sceptic stance towards accepting cryptocurrencies as part of its financial systems, but is keeping an open approach towards exploring blockchain technology. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), on August 29, announced the launch of Falcon — an open-source project that aims to simplify the management and use of blockchains based on ‘Hyperledger Fabric’ and supported on Kubernetes clusters. Essentially, Falcon is expected to help developers innovate on blockchain-based payment solutions.

“Whether you’re a blockchain enthusiast, developer, or enterprise seeking to harness the power of distributed ledger technology using Hyperledger Fabric, Falcon is your go-to solution for efficient, reliable, and automated Fabric network deployment,” the NPCI wrote in its official statement.

This offering from the NPCI is expected to help blockchain developers to use the distributed ledger technology to facilitate efficient, reliable, and automated deployment of network as well as Web3 solutions.

What is Hyperledger?

Hyperledger Fabric was initiated by Digital Asset and IBM, as per Investopedia. Hyperledger fabric is an enterprise-level permission blockchain network. The framework serves as a foundation for creating blockchain-based products and solutions.

What are Kubernetes Clusters?

Developed by Google engineers Joe Beda, Brendan Burns, and Craig McLuckie in 2014, Kubernetes is an open-source platform that assists the management of packaged software codes, also called containerised applications. A Kubernetes cluster is a set of nodes that run containerised applications.

“Kubernetes automates operational tasks of container management and includes built-in commands for deploying applications, rolling out changes to your applications, scaling your applications up and down to fit changing needs, monitoring your applications, and more—making it easier to manage applications,” Google Cloud has explained in its blog post.

About NPCI’s Falcon Plans

Falcon will combine the elements of Kubernetes and Hyperledger to simplify the creation and maintenance of advanced grade blockchain solutions.

Many have congratulated NPCI for launching Falcon, predicting that it could “accelerate last mile delivery of blockchain based solution and enhance developer experience.”

Back in 2020, the NPCI designed ‘Vajra’, a blockchain-based system for automating payment clearing and settlement processes for NPCI products.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

France Has Agreed to Use UPI for Payments in Rupees, Says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India and France have agreed to use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in this European nation, opening a huge new market for Indian innovation.
Addressing the Indian community at the La Seine Musicale, a performing arts centre on an island in river Seine, Modi said very soon Indian tourists will be able to make rupee payments using UPI from atop the Eiffel Tower.

“In France, an agreement has been made for the use of India’s UPI…It will be started from the Eiffel Tower, and now Indian tourists would be able to make payments in Rupees, through UPI, in the Eiffel Tower,” the prime minister said.

In 2022, the National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation that offers UPI services, signed an MoU with France’s fast and secure online payment system, called Lyra.

In 2023, UPI and Singapore’s PayNow signed an agreement, allowing users in either country to make cross-border transactions.

The UAE, Bhutan, and Nepal have already adopted the UPI payment system.

The NPCI international is in talks to extend the UPI services in the US, European countries, and West Asia.

Amid chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, Modi also said in a few weeks or months from now a statue of great Tamil philosopher Thiruvalluvar will be built in the Cergy Prefecture.

Modi said France has decided to grant long-term five-year visas for students pursuing a master’s degree in France.

The Prime Minister also appealed to the Indian community to invest in a big way in India as it makes rapid strides to emerge as a developed nation.

“Today every rating agency is saying that India is a bright spot. You invest in India now. This is the opportune time. Those who invest early will reap benefits,” Modi said.

Modi also recalled a personal connection with France dating back to at least four decades when he had become the first member of Alliance Francaise Centre in Ahmedabad way back in 1981.

“My attachment to France is quite old, and I can never forget it. Around 40 years ago, a cultural centre of France was started in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and the first member of that very centre is today talking to you,” the prime minister said.

Modi said India is the mother of democracy and the mother of diversity.

“This is our greatest strength. In India, there are more than 100 languages, 1,000 dialects. More than 32,000 newspapers get published every day in these languages,” the prime minister said. 

Will the Nothing Phone 2 serve as the successor to the Phone 1, or will the two co-exist? We discuss the company’s recently launched handset and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Google Pay Rolls Out UPI Payments Support for RuPay Card Holders of These Banks: Details

Tapping into the growing popularity of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Google Pay in conjunction with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Tuesday announced the capability for users to make UPI payments with RuPay credit cards. 

With this development, users can link their RuPay credit cards with Google Pay to seamlessly pay at all online and offline merchants where RuPay credit cards are accepted.  

This feature is now available to RuPay credit card holders of Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, HDFC bank, Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India. More banks will follow suit shortly. 

To activate, users need to add the RuPay credit card to Google Pay. Users can tap on the “RuPay credit card on UPI” option in their profile and select the bank which issued their RuPay credit card. 

Thereafter, users will need to set a unique UPI PIN by entering the last six digits of the card number and expiry, and then entering the OTP from their bank. The statement from Google said users are ready to pay merchants on UPI with their RuPay credit card. “They will enter the set UPI PIN, the same way they do for other UPI transactions,” it added. 

Sharath Bulusu, Director of Product Management from Google, said, “Google Pay is a partner to India’s financial ecosystem — enabling millions of users to safely and conveniently make digital payments every day… This feature will give Google Pay users more flexibility and choice in making payments, and will drive greater adoption of digital payments in the country.” 

Nalin Bansal, Chief Relationship Management and Key Initiatives, Corporate Business from NPCI, said, “The integration of RuPay Credit Card on UPI delivers a remarkable user experience seamlessly combining the convenience of UPI with the benefits of RuPay Credit Card.” 

Bansal said, “We believe this service will mature to provide access to digital credit on demand and consumers will be able to make payments by taking benefit of the inherent security and availability of UPI network across both offline and online platforms.”  

In recent years, India has witnessed a huge rise in the number of transactions made through UPI. NPCI reported a massive jump in monthly transaction count as the UPI transactions touched 8.7 billion in March 2023. To further bolster growth of digital payments in the country, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed linking of RuPay credit cards to the UPI platform in June 2022. 

Samsung Galaxy A34 5G was recently launched by the company in India alongside the more expensive Galaxy A54 5G smartphone. How does this phone fare against the Nothing Phone 1 and the iQoo Neo 7? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version