A NEW ERA IN DIGITAL PAYMENTS IS EMERGING
imagine a digital India that is so advanced that the rest of the world looks to it for the next big idea.
In the recent past, India's digital payment system has seen a period of tremendous development. This has been made possible thanks to the many advances that have been made in information and communication technology, as well as forward-thinking regulations enacted by both regulators and government officials. The combination of near universal account penetration, increasing smartphone usage, and low cost payments rails has led to a surge in digital transactions on a scale that has never been seen before. For example, since April 2016, UPI has become synonymous with a speedy digital payment that has witnessed an exponential growth trajectory to cross over 200cr transactions a month. This growth trajectory has been noticed since UPI has become synonymous with a rapid digital payment. Over the next three years, it is anticipated that this will increase by a factor of ten.
The Drive Towards Digital India and Demonetization
Shri Narendra Modi, the Honorable Prime Minister of India, launched the BHIM UPI App on December 31st, 2016, during the opening ceremony of the DigiDhan Mela. He also encouraged the people of India to get used to making digital payments in order to facilitate the transition to a cashless economy in the country.
As a direct result of the Mela, the "Digital India" programme was developed. This programme is a flagship initiative of the Indian government, and its goal is to turn India into a digitally empowered society as well as a knowledge-based economy. The objective of the Digital India initiative is to realise the status of "Faceless, Paperless, Cashless." The ambitious attempt to shift away from a cash-based economy and toward a digital economy received a powerful boost in the form of demonetization in 2016, which sped up this transition by two to three years. Since that time, the Government of India has launched a number of measures with the goal of moving the Indian economy closer toward becoming cashless.
To begin, the Government of India has made it one of its top priorities to push for the widespread adoption of digital payment systems by giving the promotion of digital payment systems the highest priority. This is done with the goal of including every part of the country in the formal system of digital payment services. • Secondly, the government is also working on incentivizing digital transactions by providing various tax and non-tax benefits to customers and merchants.
Thirdly, citizens have been provided multiple options to make digital transactions. The vision is to provide the facility of seamless digital payment to all citizens of India in a convenient, easy, affordable, quick, and secured manner. A specific initiative known as the "Digidhan Mission" has been established with the goal of developing digital payment strategies and methods in conjunction with all relevant stakeholders in order to raise awareness and encourage digital commerce.
The following are some of the reforms that have been implemented in digital payments: Expanding the base of financial inclusion Banking from anywhere Subsidy to the end beneficiary's account Use of next-gen technologies Scaling-up the merchant acceptance infrastructure Incentive schemes for customers and merchants UPI referral and cashback schemes Digital literacy and awareness
Innovation That Never Stops
Since the 1980s, the realm of digital payments has been home to a never-ending stream of innovative developments.
The beginning of MICR clearing in the early 1980s, the introduction of Electronic Clearing Service (ECS) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) in the 1990s, the issuance of credit and debit cards by banks in the 1990s, and the introduction of ATMs, Mobile and Internet Banking in the early 2000s are all examples of significant milestones that have been achieved throughout the process of developing the payments system as a whole.
The National Financial Switch (NFS) in 2003, Real-Time Gross Settlement and National Electronic Funds Transfer (RTGS and NEFT) in 2004, and The Cheque Truncation System (CTS) in 2008
Platforms for Future Payments of the Next Generation
The Government of India has taken a number of initiatives toward the goal of building a cashless society, which has been a significant factor in boosting the use of digital payment methods in the country.
This drive has accelerated since 2014, as can be seen in the significant initiatives taken to develop innovative next-generation payment products and platforms, such as the introduction of the
- National Unified USSD Platform (NUUP*99#) in 2014,
- The National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) in 2016
- The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the BHIM App in 2016
- The Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) in 2017,
- The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) – One Nation One Card in 2019.
NPCI Is the Driving Force Behind Digital Adoption
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is a not-for-profit umbrella organisation that was launched in 2009 to handle India's retail payment systems. It was established by the Government of India in order to consolidate the innovation that was already present in the payments business.
NPCI is now recognised internationally for its significant impact on retail payment systems in India. This recognition stems from the fact that NPCI has sharply focused on bringing innovations in retail payment systems through the use of technology in order to achieve greater efficiency in operations and widen the reach of payment systems. In order to replicate the success of NPCI's payment systems in their own environments, a large number of governments and international organisations are currently engaged in active talks with NPCI. In addition, the NPCI has developed into a powerful collaborative platform, which offers potential for participants in the real-time payment system to include not just traditional financial institutions but also actors from the fintech industry. The ambitious plan of the government to move away from a cash-based economy and toward a digital one received a boost in the shape of demonetization in the year 2016. Since that time, the government of India has implemented a number of new policies in an effort to get the country closer to achieving its goal of being a cashless economy.
Benefits Spread Throughout the Payments Ecosystem
Once again, India's capacity to construct a payments infrastructure of world-class quality from the ground up has been shown by the quick rise of UPI. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has resulted in the establishment of a national open standard, which has been implemented by more than 300 and possibly even more Indian banks. Due to the open nature of the systems, global players such as Google, WhatsApp, Walmart, True Caller, Amazon, and Uber are now able to offer UPI services.
Additionally, benefits of UPI accrue across the whole payments ecosystem, including the following:
- Payments made person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) provide clients with complete protection from fraudulent financial dealings.
- UPI also allows for several techniques for connecting businesses, with QR-based payments being the most popular of the available options.
- UPI is a truly interoperable payment system that is operational around the clock and includes involvement from both banks and non-bank entities. After only six years, more than 150 million UPI QRs have been introduced into the market for the purpose of accepting merchant payments. This is a significant increase from the 2.5 million devices that were capable of accepting merchant payments before this development.
- Support for all different kinds of financial accounts, including bank accounts, pre-paid wallets, overdraft accounts, and so on.
- Completely paperless signup process that does not require any visits to physical locations of the company.
- In-app, web, and intent-based payments can help facilitate low-cost physical acceptance based on QR codes.
- Completely complies with the requirements and certifications required by international security organisations
- Because payments are tied to the user's UPI ID, a higher level of security and confidentiality is afforded to users.
- Enables contactless payments across all distribution channels, including mobile, ATM, the internet, and mobile Banking
- In a nutshell, the extensive range of advantages offered by UPI has actually resulted in the country's transition from a cash-based economy belonging to a country that is known as for its digital payments landscape.
UPI, Always at the Cutting Edge of Innovation
Increasing Customers' and Businesses' Trust in One Another
• The value of UPI was fully realised during the COVID-19 epidemic, when it played a critical role in saving lives, particularly for those who lacked other options for retailers on the tiny and micro scale.In FY 2021-22, UPI handled more than 16 billion contactless transactions transactions made by merchants, with a total value of over 19 billion.
• UPI's efforts have simplified purchasing and selling by providing solutions for fintech applications that make e-commerce transactions easier for both customers and merchants.This has caused enormous demand in the financial technology industry. There is no lag, which is beneficial for the overall uninterrupted operation of business.
• In addition, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has created a plethora of new opportunities for start-ups and e-commerce players to develop novel solutions for the process of small businesses' collecting payments from their customers, which was traditionally done manually and was predominately based on cash transactions. Merchants may now more easily collect payments from customers by using UPI to send payment reminders to customers and even set precise deadlines by which customers must settle any outstanding balances, improving the overall quality of the customer experience.
• UPI also changed the previously laborious process by which merchants and small businesses collected payments from their respective clients, which was primarily based on the use of cash. Merchants can now send payment reminders to customers via UPI, and they may even establish particular times for the client to make payments by making the procedure of collecting data less complicated.
Taking Advantage of Real-World Examples
UPI has also assisted financial institutions in lowering their need for cash at channels such as ATMs and Branches, which has led to a reduction in operational expenses and an improvement in the quality of the client experience. In addition to this, it can serve as the foundation for a wider range of financial technology applications, such as micro-pensions, digital insurance products, and flexible loans. On the basis of the public infrastructure provided by UPI, these are bespoke solutions developed by Indian technology businesses.
Tech businesses are progressively capitalising on the capabilities of UPI to grow the digital ecosystem, which has resulted in a significant acceleration in the rate at which people are becoming financially included.
Advantages of UPI for Retailers and Businesses
- The safest and most practical way to have money deposited directly into your bank account.
- QR Codes provide a low-cost infrastructure for the receipt of payments.
- There is no need to deal with currency.
- Zero MDR
- There is no danger of storing private information.
- Gather the many functionalities.
- Adaptable to the needs of offline as well as online retailers
- Integration into transactions taking place in real time
- Access to a huge database of clients who use UPI as their preferred means of payment
- It is not necessary to store consumers' bank or financial information.
Customers Benefit from Using UPI in a Number of Ways
- Availability at any time of the day or night
- No sharing of confidential information is allowed.
- Simple user interface, featuring the ability to file complaints in an easy manner
- Affordability (no cost or extremely little cost) and convenience go hand in hand.
- The availability of applications with more user-friendly interfaces
- Appropriate for making payments without disclosing account information
- Payments of modest value and high frequency can be processed quickly and easily.
- The customer has access to a variety of different applications (options). Customers have the option of using BHIM, as well as specific bank and non-bank applications.
- Inclusion in the financial system as a result of its low cost and simplicity of operation
- Users are provided with a digital financial footprint, which paves the way for access to credit and other financial services.
UPI Expands Globally
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Government of India, and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) are working closely together to facilitate the expansion of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) into international markets. In this context, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made contact with other central banks in order to promote the benefits of UPI as a system that is both effective and safe.
NPCI Foreign, the National Payments Corporation of India's (NPCI) dedicated overseas subsidiary, was recently established in order to facilitate the expansion of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) into international markets.
The National Payments Clearing Institute (NPCI) has reached the pinnacle of achievement in creating an exceptional resilient payments system that is rapid, cost effective, secure, and convenient. In the wake of the groundbreaking work done by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in this country, a number of countries have expressed an interest in developing their own "real time payment system" or "domestic card scheme."
For example, UPI is presently operational in Singapore, whereas in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), work is still in progress. The NPCI is now in negotiations with over thirty nations in order to enable the acceptance of remittances through the implementation of UPI.
In addition, numerous other organisations located in a variety of nations are purportedly investigating the possibility of establishing platforms that are analogous to UPI.
At international forums such as the World Bank and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), there have been discussions regarding the necessity and significance of domestic real-time low-cost payment systems, as well as the possibility of connecting the payment systems of various countries to one another in order to facilitate real-time, low-cost cross-border remittances. Both of these topics have been hot topics in recent years.
The UPI has tremendous potential to serve as the foundation for greater bilateral business and economic partnerships with other jurisdictions, and it also helps to bolster India's soft power.