RBI proposes to introduce UPI payments through AI conversations

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday proposed to introduce and enable UPI-based payments through AI-powered conversations.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is India’s mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer. It has become hugely popular for retail digital payments in India, and its adoption is increasing at a rapid pace.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, as part of its post monetary policy meeting remarks earlier today, said it proposed to launch an innovative payment mode -- "Conversational Payments" -- on UPI, that will enable users to engage in a conversation with an AI-powered system to initiate and complete transactions in a safe and secure environment.

“This channel will be made available in both smartphones and feature phones-based UPI channels, thereby helping in the deepening of digital penetration in the country. The facility will, initially, be available in Hindi and English and will subsequently be made available in more Indian languages,” Das said today.
Also, to promote the use of UPI-Lite, it is proposed to facilitate offline transaction using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.

“This feature will not only enable retail digital payments in situations where internet / telecom connectivity is weak or not available, it will also ensure speed, with minimal transaction declines,” said Das.

UPI-Lite was launched in September 2022 to optimise processing resources for banks, thereby reducing transaction failures. The product has gained traction and currently processes more than ten million transactions a month.

India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing ecosystems for fintech innovation and the government and the central bank have been instrumental in driving the globalisation of India's digital payment infrastructure. A key emphasis of Indian government has been on ensuring that the benefits of UPI are not limited to India only, but other countries, too, benefit from it.

So far, Sri Lanka, France, UAE, and Singapore had partnered with India on the emerging fintech and payment solutions.