Unified Payment Interface (UPI), launched on 11 April 2016, is an online payments system launched in India to allows multiple bank accounts belonging to any participating bank to be controlled via a single mobile app having number of banking features, facilitating seamless and secure fund transfer and merchant payments at a single platform.

Peer to Peer fund request and transfer has been introduced with the UPI using mobile app first time.

Now an upgraded version UPI 2.0 is launched in Mumbai by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) along with some banks and Reserve Bank of India members. RBI governor Urjit Patel, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar and Nandan Nilekani, the non-executive chairman of Infosys who is also the innovation advisor at NPCI launched UPI 2.0.

NPCI controls all retail payments in the country, manages the UPI platform that facilitates instant fund transfer between two bank accounts on a mobile platform, without requiring details of the beneficiary’s bank account.

Existing Features of UPI

1. Instant money transfer facilitated 24×7 via any mobile device
2. Single aap can be used to access multiple bank accounts
3. Security of “Single Click 2 Factor Authentication”, which combines strong security and smooth access of a payment via a single click
4. Virtual address eliminating the need of providing card number, IFSC, account numbers etc. providing incremental security
5. The app lets one to share bill with friends
6. Single Application Merchant Payment and easier In-App Payments
7. Registering complaints directly via the Mobile App

New features of UPI 2.0

1. Linking of overdraft account: In new version, customers can link their overdraft account to UPI along with their savings and current account.
2. One-time mandate: Customers can pre-authorize a transaction and pay at a later date.
3. Invoice in the inbox: According to NPCI, this feature is designed for customers to check the invoice sent by merchant prior to making payment. It will help customers to view and verify the credentials and check whether it has come from the right merchant or not. Customers can pay after verifying the amount and other important details mentioned in the invoice.
4. Signed intent and QR: This feature is designed for customers to check the authenticity of merchants while scanning QR or quick response code. It notifies the user with information to ascertain whether the merchant is a verified UPI merchant or not. This provides an additional security. Customers will be informed in case the receiver is not secured by way of notifications, said NPCI.

As per NPCI, UPI 2.0 member banks as on date are State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, RBL Bank, YES Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Federal Bank and HSBC.

As per Mint, BHIM UPI recorded transactions worth INR 45,845 crore and 235 million in terms of value and volume in the month of July 2018.

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