The latest version of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), UPI 2.0 was launched today, by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), in the presence of select members from banks and the RBI, at an event in Mumbai. NPCI is an umbrella organization for all retail payments in the country.
It was launched by Dr Urijit Patel, Governor, RBI, Nandan Nilekani, Innovation advisor at NPCI, along with Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, State Bank of India (SBI).
Talking on the launch, Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO, NPCI, said, “We are happy to witness the revolution brought about by UPI in the last two years. Large number of banks, merchants, third-party players and consumers trusted this platform which resulted in substantial growth in terms of volume and value of transactions since its inception. With the launch of UPI 2.0, we hope to touch new milestones by expanding UPI’s presence especially in person-to-merchant payment space.”
More than 10 banks including SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, among others, are said to be joining the UPI 2.0 from the beginning. Other banks are in the process of updating the payment product, the whole process is expected to be completed in the next two months.
New Features included in the UPI 2.0 are:
Overdraft facility: Along with the current and savings accounts, customers can now link their overdraft account to UPI. This will facilitate instant transactions, along with the benefits of the overdraft account. UPI 2.0 will provide an additional channel to access the overdraft account.
One Time Mandate: UPI mandate is a facility that can be used when money is to be transferred later by providing commitment at present. With UPI 2.0, mandates are created with one-time block functionality for transactions. Transactions can be pre-authorised and payment can be made at a later date. The feature works seamlessly for merchants, as well as individual users. The amount will automatically be deducted and received by the merchant/individual user.
Invoice in the Inbox: This feature is designed for customers to check the invoice set by the merchant prior to making the payment. It will help the customers to verify credentials and help them check if it has come from the right merchant or not.
Signed Intent and QR: This feature will help the customers to check the authenticity of the merchants by scanning the QR code. It notifies the user with information to ascertain whether the merchant is a verified UPI merchant or not. Customers will be informed in case the receiver is not secured by the way of notifications.