RBI Announces the Launch of UPI123Pay: Learn How to Use UPI with a Feature Phone.

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RBI Announces the Launch of UPI123Pay


The Unified Payment Interface, which was introduced in 2016, has achieved rapid acceptance. In October 2019, UPI surpassed a billion transactions for the first time. The Covid-19 epidemic hastened things even more. In the previous four years, the adoption of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has increased 70 times across the country. UPI recorded 4.56 billion transactions worth Rs 8.27 trillion in December 2021. Because of the simplicity and convenience in carrying out financial transactions, UPI transactions have quickly gained popularity in India. Both in terms of money transfer and payment.

However, only individuals with a smartphone have had easy access to UPI and related financial services. Those who used feature phones (phones that lack the sophisticated features of a smartphone) did not benefit from UPI transactions. While it is feasible to use UPI on a feature phone, many people find it challenging. UPI may be accessed via the NUUP (National Unified USSD Platform) short code *99#. However, this approach is time-consuming and unpopular because it is a lengthy process with several phases. As a result, the RBI has introduced UPI123Pay to give access to feature phone consumers. Now, a little more than 40 crore feature phone users have access to the internet.

Important points to setting up the Transection for UPI123Pay are:

  1. Users need to link their bank account with UPI123.
  2. Set-up UPI PIN. This secures each of the transactions a user makes.

How to use UPI123Pay
In order to use UPI123Pay using the IVR facility in feature phones, three easy actions must be taken: 

  1. Call the IVR number
  2. Select the service such as electricity payment, phone bill or money transfer
  3. Make the payment 

How to use UPI in feature phones?

We've already shown how to utilize UPI using IVR. It should be noted that there are several ways to use UPI123 in a feature phone. They are as follows:

  1. App-based Functionality: To access UPI-related financial services, a feature phone app would be loaded.
  2. Missed Call: This would allow users of feature phones to access their bank accounts and conduct activities such as money transfers and bill payments. In this case, the user must dial 'missed call' on the number listed at the merchant outlet. The consumer will next receive an incoming call asking him or her to confirm the transaction by entering the UPI PIN.
  3. Interactive Voice Response (IVR):Users would be forced to make a secure call from their feature phones to a predefined number and follow UPI on-boarding procedures. Users will be able to transact without an internet connection after this.
  4. Proximity Sound-based Payments: Sound waves are used to provide offline, contactless, and proximity data transfer on any device.

Conclusion

In addition to UPI123pay, a 24-hour helpdesk called DigiSaathi has been established. This would help people who have questions about digital payments. This service is provided via the website, chatbot, and toll-free phone calls.
This new service, UPI123pay, is projected to speed the pace of digital adoption in India and promote financial inclusion in the nation by making UPI services more easily available to those in society who have formerly been excluded from the digital payments ecosystem.

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