Google introduces UPI Circle in India: What is it, how to use and all you need to know - Check details

Google UPI Circle: Google has launched a new UPI tool known as UPI Circle for its Google Pay app in association with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It has been designed to streamline financial transactions for people who either do not have a bank account or find it hard to make digital payments on their own. The UPI Circle helps these individuals to make digital payments via the primary user’s account without linking a bank account. Google informs that the UPI Circle feature will be accessible in the Google Pay app. It aims to include people who are still dependent on cash in the digital payment system by letting trusted friends or family members assist them in making payments digitally. 

UPI Circle on Google Pay will help the primary user delegate digital payment tasks to trusted contacts like close friends or family members. This feature has two kinds of delegations- full delegation and partial delegation. In full delegation, the primary users put a monthly transaction limit of up to Rs 15,000, which will allow the secondary users to make payments freely under that limit without any further approvals. In partial delegation, the primary user holds full control over each digital payment made by the secondary user. The primary user gets a request to authorize every transaction initiated by the secondary user making sure that the primary user is informed about and involved in every transaction. Furthermore, there is a 30-minute cool-off time after linking a secondary user, during which no payment can be initiated can be made, which ensures an additional level of security.

This feature will be rolled out for both iOS and Android platforms. Users will be required to update their Google Pay apps to see if UPI Circle is available. 

How To Use Google UPI Circle 

1. Users need an active bank account linked to the Google Pay app to add secondary users to UPI Circle. 

2. The secondary users need to have a UPI ID, and their contact number needs to be stored in the primary user’s contact book. 

3. To initiate payments from the primary user’s account, the secondary user will need to launch their UPI app and click on the QR code icon. 

4. Then the primary user will go to the UPI Circle section by clicking on their profile picture or initials on the Google Pay app. The primary user chooses the delegation type (full or partial).

5.  Then the secondary user will be required to give consent to the invitation to confirm the setup. Once the setup is done, the secondary user can initiate transactions freely within the predetermined Rs 15,000 monthly limit, with payments up to Rs 5,000 per transaction.

Remarkably, both the primary and secondary users can keep track of the status of their transaction requests in real time via the UPI Circle section in their profiles. This feature will also offer the history of all successful transactions for more transparency. A primary user can include up to five secondary users. However, every secondary user can be included in only one UPI Circle at a time.