UPI-based payment product for feature phone users soon

The future of digital payment is changing rapidly. Digital payment is making the transaction process much easier now.   

5-7 years ago, no one even thought that the trend of digital payment would grow rapidly. Smartphones have made the digital transactions much easier. Not just smartphones, but feature phones too will have this facility of digital payment now.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday announced that it has decided to launch a UPI-based payment product for feature phone users. Sharing more details, Zee Business Senior News Anchor Neha Anand talked about how UPI and Digital payment facilities are changing the transaction process in India.

Feature phones are basic phones, which provide voice calling and text messaging functionalities. A few also have basic multimedia and internet options.

Anand said, “The RBI said that it will launch UPI-based payment products for feature phone users, leveraging on innovative products from the RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox on Retail Payments.”

She said, “Currently, there is a processing fee of up to 2-2.5% on payments through wallet. However, RBI may cut this fee to encourage payments through wallets." 

“Apart from this, the RBI has also proposed to enhance the transaction limit for payments through UPI for the Government's Retail Direct Scheme for investment in G-secs and Initial Public Offering (IPO) applications from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh”, she added. The RBI believes this will encourage the digital transactions.

Anand further said, “In 2018, the number of digital payments transactions were 1459 crore, which then increased to 2326 crore in 2019. Then in 2020, it crossed 3412 crore, and in 2021, the transactions reached 4371 crore.”

Neha then said, “The digital value payment was Rs 8.7 lakh crore in 2018-2019, which increased to Rs 41.3 lakh crore in 2020-2021.”
She added, “According to the government, there is a 19% jump in the number of people making digital payments during the past 7 years. It is estimated that by 2025, the habit of digital payment in India will increase by 72%. And the cash and check payment will go to just 28%.”

She added, “With the increase of digital payment, transparency will come in the process of the transaction and the burden of the government regarding the printing of currency can also be reduced.”