DailyPost 1178
UNITED PAYMENT INTERFACE, UPI
In this fast moving world there has been a tendency to latch on to the flimsy and miss out on the major achievements. It mostly happens in technology. Most of us want to get the maximum ease and benefit out of it but we are not ready to understand it even superficially, leave aside trying to understand to the level of technical nitty gritty as is required. It is precisely for this reason some compliment from outside makes the accomplishment tick.
One of such accomplishments is India’s United Payment Interface (UPI). The robustness and dynamic nature of this payment system triggered Google to express its desire that US Federal Reserve to implement similar real-time payments platform. Mark Isakowitz, Vice President, Govt. Affairs & Public Policy, wrote to the US govt. in this regard sharing the learnings of UPI with the govt. there. Appreciating this digital payment infrastructure, Google expressed that Google Pay in one of the three leading applications that use UPI.
Google’s findings are that UPI was very thoughtfully planned and that the critical aspects of its design were instrumental in its success. The interbank transfer system has now over 140 member banks having started with 9 participating banks is a clear testimony of its success. Being a real time system adds to its credibility. It is also an ”open system”, on which companies to build apps. Through these apps the user can directly manage transfers.
The growth of UPI transfers has been phenomenal, currently at 10% of the country’s GDP, including 800 million monthly transactions valued at $19 billion. It has grown 56 times in just two years from 17 million to 955 million. Supporting real time both low value as high value payments, UPI has worked for banks, consumers and all other players in the payment ecosystem. When a real world problem is solved by technology in a robust manner, this is the result and the impact. We all gain.
UPI HAS REDEFINED PAYMENT MECHANISM IN INDIA FOR ALL TIMES.