RBI Allows Credit Card & UPI Linking- UPI & UPI Apps to Dominate in India

The government of India has been on a mission to make India a cashless economy by supporting Digital Payments. On June 8, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India made an announcement on linking Credit cards to the Unified Payment system network (UPI). The process will start with RuPay credit cards, later lending to Visa and Mastercards. Currently, users perform UPIs through their linked debit cards, but the addition of Credit Cards & UPI Linking network will soon bring new benefits for the audience.

What Benefits Credit Card & UPI Linking Offer?

UPI systems has been contributing to the digital economy for a long time now. Now, the announcement packs more benefits to the audience.

1. More alternatives: After credit cards & UPI linking, the user will have an added alternative of payments. The UPI apps will see a hike in usage by customers.
2. Home-grown payment: RuPay, a homegrown payment system, will get a boost in usage since the announcement will start implementation from RuPay credit cards. The Indian payment system will be widely used and recognized by the audience. Users will feel proud using their homegrown system.
3. More users: From 2019 to 2021, India saw a 4x rise in the UPI transaction values. An added payment option will attract users preferring credit cards as their payment option and increase the transaction values further.
4. Pay later: Credit cards are post-paid cards that users can enjoy shopping before recharging them. With the addition of Credit cards, users can use their credit card limits before actually submitting the bill.

Timeline and Statistics on UPI

UPI apps are no doubt dominating the payment system. Here are the stats that prove the same from the official source.

• From April to June 2016, the stats of UPI were zero. The government didn’t record any transaction and money figures in this period.
• Despite zero records till June 2016, till December 2016, 35 banks got involved in the UPI system, and the total value of debit and credit reached 700 crores.
• In 2017 alone, the money figure in transactions reached 2x the previous year.
• From 2018 to 2020, the total value of debit and credit added 1 Lakh crores in its accounts. Now, there are 207 banks attached to the UPI systems.
• Now in May 2022, there are 323 banks, live on the UPI system with a user volume of 5955.20 million and taking the value of transactions to 10,41,520 crores.

Top 3 Third-party UPI Apps

Banks provide UPI functionalities within their apps. But, there are a number of third party apps who have tied up with a number of banks to provide a seamless payment experience to the users. They also provide regular rewards and deals to keep their customers engaged. Here are the top 3 third-party UPI apps.

Google Pay

Also known as Gpay, Google pay is developed by Google and is used worldwide. The app has so many language variants like Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, and Kannada. The app has partnered with ICICI, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank to become one of the leading UPI third-party apps.

Paytm

One of the first apps in the digital wallet industry, PayTm is still leading the UPI payment grounds in India. You can also see merchants provided by Paytm with many vendors to smoothly initiate the UPI transfers.

Samsung Pay

Samsung is a leading electronics and gadgets brand transforming technology. Partners with Axis bank, Samsung pay operates on the @pingpay handle and is actively assisting customers in UPI transfers

How Does UPI Benefit Other Mobile Apps?

Digital payment is becoming essential in mobile apps like Food Delivery, E-commerce, and Betting. What benefit does the UPI system provide to other mobile apps?

• 24×7: Unlike other payment modes, the UPI payment system is always active for the users and vendors. Even if the banks are closed, the UPI system keeps assisting users with payment transfers.
• Flexible: There is no fixed-mobile app to perform a UPI payment. The audience can use any app that supports UPI transfers to immediately perform the transactions. So, no matter what your user uses for payment, you can request money from them directly from your app.
• No charges: With UPI, you and your customers are not leveraged to pay any charges while performing the transaction.
• Secure: The UPI transactions are secured with two-factor authentication, where users have to put their pin every time they make any payment.

Wrapping Up

UPI apps will dominate in India because of the mission Digital India, and the convenience, users are enjoying. The above timeline explains how users are shifting to the most UPI apps. Third-party apps like Google pay are crossing millions of users as their user base. Entrepreneurs are planning to bring their own UPI app to be a part of the domination. The process of development is complex since it involves banks. So, it is a good idea that you consult about your project with a mobile app development agency