NPCI's UPI Circle feature lets users choose family members who can make digital payments without needing a bank account.
Google Pay has also announced a feature to allow users to prepaid utility bills
Photo Credit: Google
Google Pay, the Unified Prepaid Interface (UPI) payments app, unveiled new features at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2024. The company said that these new features, which will be rolled out later this year, will make it easier for users to make payments and transact through the app. Some of the features announced at the GFF include UPI Circle, UPI Vouchers or eRupi, Clickpay QR scan, Prepaid Utility payments, Tap & Pay with RuPay cards, and more. Apart from this, the company also announced several partnerships at the event.
The UPI payments app detailed the new features in a blog post and said that these functionalities will bring ease, convenience, and simplicity to the way users interact with payments and finance instruments.
UPI Circle is a new feature rom NPCI that allows UPI account holders to let trusted people make digital payments even if they do not have a bank account. This feature can be beneficial for older family members who do not own a bank account or a Google Pay-linked account but need to make a UPI payment.
These family members can either get a Partial Delegation privilege where the primary user will have to approve every transaction or a Full Delegation privilege where they can get a monthly limit of up to Rs. 15,000. This feature is being launched in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
UPI Vouchers or eRupi, a direct benefit transfer (DBT) feature launched in 2021, that will soon be supported on Google Pay. People, with this feature, can generate a prepaid voucher which is linked to a mobile number and can be used to make digital payments even if the user did not link a bank account to UPI. This feature will be brought to the platform in collaboration with NPCI and the Department of Financial Services.
Clickpay QR scan is another new feature for bill payments coming to Google Pay. It allows users to pay their bills on Google Pay by scanning a QR code within the app. These payments can only be made when the biller has generated a customised QR code for the customer. Once scanned, users will see the bill amount they need to pay, according to Google.
Google Pay will also let users make prepaid utility bills with a new feature. Similar to the feature in Paytm, the app will discover a user's prepaid utility bills once they have added their customer data to the app. Once done, users will be able to make recurring payments to the billers who support prepaid payments. The feature will work across different categories. It is being added in partnership with NPCI Bharat Billpay.
Tap & Pay with RuPay Cards will also be added to Google Pay later this year. With this, RuPay cardholders can add their Rupay card to the app and tap their near-field communication (NFC) enabled smartphone on a card machine and make payments. Notably, card information is not stored in the app, the company stated.
Finally, UPI Lite is getting an autopay feature. Users will be able to automatically top-up their UPI Lite account when the balance falls below a certain amount.
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