UPI Now Available for Feature Phones – Latest RBI News

India is already on the big step of developing a cashless economy via the home-grown Unified Payment Interface (UPI). The digital payment was brought to action in 2016 by our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. By now, only digital phones had access to the cashless payment system. This brought the feature phone owners under the radar of availing of in-person payment services. 

RBI launched new initiatives to overcome the situation and make UPI payments available on feature phones. The latest RBI news intends to escalate the cashless payment interface to reach far and wide across India with utmost ease.

But how is this cutting-edge technology going to work on these outmoded feature phones? And how will the Indian economy respond to the new initiative? It is still an unanswered yet unmissable question for all.

Keep reading to make the acquaintance of offline cashless payment via feature phones, introduced by the Reserve Bank of India in March 2022. 

What is Unified Payment Interface (UPI)?

Unified Payment Interface, widely known as UPI, is a digital payment solution. The digital payment method is a big umbrella that offers all the banking features and services. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), with the support of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks Association (IBA), was the first to initiate the concept of UPI in India. A simple UPI ID and PIN can make transferring funds a lot easier. The new digital transaction method is an advanced form of Immediate Payments Service (IPS), also handled by the NPCI.   

Upshot – Absence of UPI Payments On Feature Phones

Digital Payments are here to stay. There is barely anyone who has no idea what a cashless digital payment solution is. But many people cannot access it, even after its massive success and reach. Simply, the knowledge of this concept is not properly dispersed among the people. 

In India, around 40 million still do not have access to smartphones, which proves to be a barrier for UPI payments. The use of feature phones is widely accepted in many parts of the country. Digital UPI payments were only available on smartphones for the last few years. 

The basic phones faced problems in making payments. The pandemic was an addition to that. Though the UPI transaction facility was available only for smartphones, feature phone owners could not make timely payments. These delayed payments also led to failed payments in the last few years.

UPI For Feature Phones – RBI Latest News

As per the latest Reserve Bank of India (RBI) news, the authority introduced two new initiatives for digital payment in India, known as the UPI payment system. These two initiatives are:

• UPI123Pay: The first initiative by RBI is for feature phone owners, under which UPI on feature phones will be available. 
• DigiSaathi:Under this initiative, a 24×7 helpline will be made available for all digital payments across India.  

Shaktikanta Das, Governor of RBI, addressed the importance of these two new initiatives in the RBI’s latest news. He mentioned that the two new initiatives would increase the use and demand for powerful digital innovations throughout the country. Not only this, the home-grown payment technique, UPI, will also get a boost by making UPI payment available for 400 million feature phone owners in the country. In the latest RBI news, the authority ensured an enabling environment for making the initiatives a success.

“We still have some distance to cover, and the effort is to achieve even more in digital payments”, Das mentioned in the press release by RBI on its official website.

At present, the UPI transfer feature is only available for smartphones. Though the home-grown payment technique can be accessed through the National Unified USSD Portal (NUUP) and code *99#, this method is not popular among Indians.

Since the feature phone is a basic one through which only calls and texts can be made, on the other hand, UPI on feature phones will make a digital stride in India. The RBI’s latest news is proven to be useful news for all the basic phone wonders in India. It will also fill in the gap of UPI payments and take it to the next level.

Following the fact that there are around 400 million feature phone owners in the country, the UPI on feature phones will improve to make payment easy and fast for the citizens.   

Ways to Use UPI123Pay in Feature Phones

There are four ways in which the feature phone owners can access the UPI123Pay without the need for an internet connection:

• Functionality through the App: An app will need to be downloaded on the feature phone for making UPI payments and other UPI functionalities. 
• By Giving a Missed Call: The citizens can make payment by giving a missed call on the number displayed at the merchant’s corner. After the missed call, the owners will receive a call to confirm their UPI transaction by entering their UPI PIN. Without internet connectivity, these feature phones can perform transactions, receive, make regular payments, pay bills, etc. 
• Through Sound-Based Payments: This method includes using the sound waves for contactless, proximity data communication, and offline transfer through and on any device. 
• Using Interactive Voice Response (IVR): Using the operating IVR numbers will require the feature phone users to make a secured call via their operating phone. They need to call the predetermined IVR number and complete the UPI on feature phone payment facilities. After finalising the details, the offline payment facility will be enabled on the feature phone.

How Will the Feature Phone UPI Payment Help the Digital Payment Companies?

There are multiple digital payment firms that have been taking over the market. Let’s learn the impact of RBI’s latest news announcement about UPI payments for feature phones on the companies. The initiative of feature phone UPI will not affect these companies. Here is how:

• These companies focus on other segments of digital payments unrelated to UPI.
• With the digital transaction habits instilled in people, the platform will gain customers as per its features.
• The use and popularity of digital payment platforms also depend on their advertising.
• The big chunk of value comes from the smartphone owners, and the UPI on feature phones will be just a small part of the transactions. 
• The smartphone is a habitat that can not be accounted for by the new payment feature initiative in the country.

See also@ PM Modi Launches e-RUPI – A Digital Payment Solution

How Does the UPI Play an Important Part of the Indian Economic Boom?

The instant real-time, home-grown UPI, the payment system of India, made a threefold boom in the country’s economy. Amid the COVID-19, the use of UPI payments was opted by the users three-time more than the last financial year. The UPI proved to be the best way for making payments amidst the social-distancing norm. The payment method is believed to be one of the best digital-payment innovations after the independence of India. 

The real-time payment solution has flipped the coin and is making a cashless economy. This massive contribution of UPI will make India one of the fastest-growing digital economies globally. 

As per the data presented by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages the UPI payment system, UPI’s use has increased threefold compared to the last financial year (2022-21). This includes the value and the number of transactions made. As per the data, the value of transactions made till March 2021 is 2,732 million rupees (₹5,04,886 crores). While the total value of transactions at the beginning of 2020 was 999.6 million rupees (₹1,51,141 crores). Also, the increase in the number of banks (currently more than 216) played a huge role in the increased UPI transactions. 

The key players of the increased use of UPI – Google Pay, PhonePe, and PayTm dominate the UPI environment. 

• The UPI transactions in 2021 made on PayTm is estimated to be 401.16 million rupees.
• The UPI payment value accounts for around 1,199.51 million rupees in 2021. 
• The other key player, Google Pay, accounts for 957.01 million rupees in the fiscal year (2021-2022).

Making Life Simpler

The latest RBI news brings joy to the life of basic phone owners by making transactions easy. Never have anyone thought that the basic phone could avail the digital payment facilities. But RBI, the recent technological advancement, brought it to fruition. The new initiative will be adding a big picture to the digital payment industry without disrupting the existing one. UPI on feature phones will give a boost to the Indian economy. Moreover, the increased reach of UPI payments will help make India one of the fastest-growing digital nations globally by bringing 400 million basic phone users under the dynamism of home-grown payment UPI solutions.