UPI is an instant real-time payment system developed by the country’s flagship payment processor, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). Eroute said it will facilitate digital payments without requiring an internet connection. The offline payments technology involves the use of a smart card which acts as a SIM overlay. This technology is already being used in China and Kenya, and tried in Japan.
A feature phone user, after installing the technology, will have access to a SIM toolkit through which they can make fund transfers, and merchant and bill payments. Currently, India-based users already have an offline payments alternative which involves dialling *99# on their phones to access their UPI-linked accounts via a GSM protocol called USSD. However, there are certain challenges around its user experience and due to the LTE technology, it is not available for Reliance Jio subscribers.
The latest move comes one month after the startup secured approval from the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to test the offline payments solution. The solution is said to be part of the first cohort of RBI’s regulatory sandbox on retail payments. In August 2020, the RBI set up an offline payment system to push digital payment adoption in areas with slow or no internet.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now