Samsung Wallet Redefines Digital Payments in India with UPI Onboarding, Biometric Authentication, and Tap & Pay Upgrades

Samsung, India’s largest consumer electronics brand, today announced significant innovations to Samsung Wallet - a versatile platform that allows Galaxy users to organize digital keys, payment methods, identification cards and more in one secure application. The breakthrough features are designed to transform how millions of Galaxy users can set up new devices, manage payments and transact digitally. With seamless UPI onboarding as part of device setup, PIN-free biometric authentication, and enhanced Tap & Pay support — including FOREX cards and online card payments — Samsung Wallet is accelerating its mission to become the universal and secure gateway to your digital life.

We are thrilled to introduce these breakthrough innovations to Samsung Wallet. With the new updates, Samsung Wallet is no longer just a digital wallet, it has become a universal and secure gateway for digital payments, travel essentials, identity cards, and digital keys. From the moment users set up their new Galaxy device to the way they pay, transact, and travel, we are removing barriers and redefining convenience, said Madhur Chaturvedi, Senior Director, Services & Apps Business, Samsung India. 

UPI Onboarding Built-In with New Device Setup – Catalysing Rapid Adoption

Samsung is the first Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to enable onboarding of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) accounts through Samsung Wallet as part of the new-device setup experience on Galaxy smartphones. By integrating UPI registration early in the setup journey, users can be payment-ready from the moment they power on their new Galaxy device. This friction-free experience ensures quick and seamless adoption of UPI on Galaxy devices, further boosting digital payments in India and simplifying the path from out-of-box to pay-ready.

Samsung Wallet, Biometric Authentication for UPI — No PIN Needed Every time

Samsung Wallet’s authentication experience has been enhanced with the introduction of biometric verification — device fingerprint and facial recognition — eliminating the need for PIN entry for everyday use. Users will soon be able to access the app and make UPI payments using just their Galaxy device’s fingerprint or face recognition. The upgrade not only streamlines access but also enhances security and convenience, reducing manual input and minimizing friction during payment flows. With this added authentication method, Samsung Wallet makes secure payments as effortless as unlocking your phone.

Online Credit and Debit Card Payments at Key Merchants

Samsung Wallet will soon support direct online usage of stored credit and debit cards across a wide set of key merchants. Users will be able to seamlessly pay for goods and services online using the credit and debit cards safely tokenised in their Samsung Wallet—no need to manually key in card details, making checkout faster and more secure.

FOREX Cards and New Partnerships for Samsung Wallet Tap & Pay

In addition to Samsung Wallet already supporting credit and debit cards from leading banks and card issuers, the digital payments experience is enhanced beyond borders as Samsung Wallet will support FOREX cards for Tap & Pay, powered by WSFx Global Pay Limited, enabling Galaxy users to make seamless international transactions with a simple tap. Additionally, Samsung has onboarded AU Bank cards for Tap & Pay, further expanding its network of banking partners and supported card issuers.

Samsung Wallet & Availability

Samsung Wallet is a versatile platform that allows Galaxy users to organize Digital Keys, Payment methods, Identification cards and more in one secure application. Samsung Wallet features a seamless interface protected by defense-grade security from Samsung Knox. It integrates with the Galaxy ecosystem, providing powerful connectivity and fortified security for users in their everyday lives. The new features will begin rolling out across supported Galaxy devices soon.

NPCI Unveils Agentic AI-Powered IoT Payments via UPI, Signaling India’s Next Leap in Intelligent Commerce

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) today showcased a live demonstration of Agentic AI-based IoT Payments powered by UPI, highlighting the next phase of seamless, intelligent digital transactions.

Image - X/Kushal Jasani

The demonstration was presented in the presence of Shri Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder & Chairman, Infosys and Hon. Advisor to NPCI on Innovations & Public Policy. The feature, which is currently in the pilot stage, showcased how users can discover and order items seamlessly from merchants through AI platforms such as Gemini, bringing greater convenience and personalization to digital commerce.

The solution is enabled by user-authorized AI chatbots, agents, and applications capable of initiating UPI payments based on contextual triggers, voice or text commands, and user-defined routines. These AI-powered systems can operate across devices, ensuring secure, efficient, and intuitive payment experiences.

Shri Nandan Nilekani

This demonstration marks a significant step toward the convergence of AI, and digital payments, underscoring NPCI’s commitment to driving innovation and shaping the future of India’s digital economy.

The demonstration was attended by Shri Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder & Chairman of Infosys and Hon. Advisor to NPCI on Innovations & Public Policy, underscoring the strategic importance of this innovation in India’s fintech roadmap.

From Discovery to Payment: AI Agents Take the Lead

The pilot illustrated how user-authorized AI chatbots and applications—such as those powered by Gemini—can autonomously discover products, place orders, and initiate payments via UPI. These agents respond to contextual triggers, voice or text commands, and user-defined routines, offering a frictionless and personalized commerce experience.

“Agentic AI is redefining digital payments by making them intuitive, secure, and context-aware,” said an NPCI spokesperson. “This is not just a technical upgrade—it’s a shift toward intelligent commerce.”

A New Era of Seamless Transactions

The solution enables payments across IoT devices, allowing users to interact with smart platforms—from wearables to home assistants—without manual intervention. By integrating AI with UPI’s robust infrastructure, NPCI aims to simplify everyday transactions while enhancing security and personalization.

This initiative complements NPCI’s broader push toward biometric authentication and risk-based models, including recent rollouts of fingerprint and facial recognition for UPI payments.

Strategic Vision for India’s Digital Economy

The demonstration reflects NPCI’s commitment to shaping the future of India’s digital economy through innovation. Speaking at the event, Nilekani emphasized the convergence of AI and payments as a critical frontier for financial inclusion and user empowerment.

As the pilot progresses, NPCI plans to expand the capabilities of Agentic AI across sectors, potentially transforming retail, mobility, and public services.

BharatPe Launches BharatPeX to Reinvent Enterprise Payments with AI and In-App UPI

BharatPe, India’s leading fintech company, today unveiled BharatPeX, its new PAPG-online brand that brings an ‘X-factor’ to how enterprises run payments. It combines a modern online payment gateway (Cards, Net Banking, UPI) with an implementation-first model that helps clients ship in-app UPI experiences faster, keep customer data within their own apps, and materially lift success rates.

Highlights

• More than a gateway, it's an implementation squad plus an AI layer that de-risks compliance, compresses go-live timelines to a third, and lifts success rates while keeping customer data with the merchant. That’s the X-factor.
• Next-gen payments stack. Built in Bharat, built for Bharat (and beyond): Full-stack collections and payouts designed for ecommerce, fintech, and enterprise scale.
• BharatPeX.AI — expertise on tap: A first-of-its-kind virtual assistant delivering instant answers, journey prototypes (e.g., UPI Autopay, UPI Circle, UPI International) and reusable sample code to accelerate builds.
• Compliance-first, bank-ready: Strong NPCI/bank navigation, secure-by-design architecture, and resilient rails powering reliable pay-ins, payouts, and BBPS.
• Own the UPI experience: Seamless UPI (in-app via UPI Plug-in or a TPAP pathway), plus Cards, Net Banking, Wallets, and Credit on UPI—all tuned for higher conversion.
• A dedicated triad for every client: Named Product, Tech, and Bank/NPCI points-of-contact partner end-to-end to make onboarding simple and integration effort ~1/3rd of typical cycles.

With technology and artificial intelligence at its core, the service comes bundled with BharatPeX.AI, which empowers enterprises with expertise on tap. The AI assistant provides clients with 24/7, consistent guidance on features, eligibility, and go-live steps across BharatPeX, NPCI, and partner banks. It also provides journey prototypes (e.g., UPI Autopay, UPI Circle, UPI International) and can generate sample code that teams can reuse.

Sandeep Indurkar, CEO – Payments, BharatPe, said, “Most enterprises want world-class payment systems but are wary of compliance, bank coordination, and long development cycles. With BharatPeX, we remove that friction. We don’t stop at an API—we deploy a specialist team and an AI-driven virtual assistant so our clients can enable UPI Plug-in or even scale to becoming TPAP-enabled—owning the user journey, the data, and the outcomes, which in turn lets them offer a seamless collections service and payment experience to their customers.” The company has already begun onboarding e-commerce, fintech, and enterprise clients in phases.

Designed to power growth at scale, BharatPeX combines collections, payouts, and enterprise-grade support into a single, secure platform, simplifying payments while multiplying impact. It promises outcome-oriented enablement, higher success rates, reduced go-to-market time, and data ownership for the merchant.

What makes BharatPeX different:

1. Payments expertise, not just a gateway: A dedicated (Product/Tech/Relationship) squad partners with each client to design, integrate, and scale collections and payouts. The team navigates NPCI processes and partner banks, simplifying onboarding and cutting implementation effort to roughly one-third of typical cycles.
2. In-app UPI at the core: While UPI already drives a large share of ecommerce transactions, most merchants still have to divert users to third party apps, losing visibility and control. BharatPeX helps clients run in-app UPI flows (via UPI Plug-in or TPAP), boosting success rates and ensuring customer data stays with the client.
3. Built for eCommerce, fintech, and enterprises: From checkout orchestration to complex payout needs, BharatPeX is designed for scale and governed by a compliance-first approach aligned to applicable RBI/NPCI guidelines.

With BharatPeX, BharatPe positions itself as the go-to partner for enterprises navigating the fast-evolving digital economy, reinforcing India’s place at the global forefront of payments innovation.

BharatPe is the only fintech company in India with an NBFC license (Trillion Loans), a stake in a Small Finance Bank (Unity SFB), and an Online Payment Aggregator license.

Why should merchants adopt BharatPeX?Command the user experience:

• Keep users in-app; reduce drop-offs and dependency on third-party apps
• Own the data: Maintain visibility on key customer markers to drive retention and LTV
• Ship faster: Cut integration effort to ~1/3rd with guided implementation and sample code
• Scale confidently: A single partner to handle tech, bank coordination, and compliance nuances
• Go beyond payments: Identify revenue opportunities tied to better payment experiences and customer delight

About BharatPeX:

BharatPeX is BharatPe’s online PAPG brand, purpose-built to bring the X-factor to enterprise payments by combining a full-stack gateway with hands-on implementation and AI-assisted expertise.

About BharatPe:

BharatPe (brand name of Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd) was founded in 2018 to make financial inclusion a reality for Indian merchants. In 2018, it launched India’s first UPI interoperable QR code, the first zero MDR payment acceptance service. In 2020, post-Covid, BharatPe also launched a card acceptance terminal – BharatPe Swipe. Currently, with a registered network of over 1.7 crores merchants across 450+ cities, the company is one of the leading players in UPI offline transactions, processing 450 million+ UPI transactions per month. BharatPe processes payments of a monthly Transaction Processed Value of ₹12,000 crores. BharatPe Money (brand name of Resilient Digi Services Private Limited), a BharatPe Group Company, has already facilitated the disbursement of loans of over US$ 2 billion, in partnership with NBFCs. BharatPe’s POS business processes payments of over ₹27,000 crores annually on its 125,000+ machines.

RBI Deputy Governor Unveils 3 Groundbreaking Digital Payment Innovations at Global Fintech Fest 2025

1. UPI Multi-Signatory
2. Small Value Transactions using Wearable Glasses via UPI Lite and
3. Forex on Bharat Connect

The Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Shri T. Rabi Sankar, announced the launch of three key digital payment innovations at the Global Fintech Fest 2025. The new offerings are ‘UPI Multi-Signatory’, ‘Small Value Transactions using Wearable Glasses via UPI Lite’ and ‘Forex on Bharat Connect’.

UPI Multi-Signatory 

The RBI Deputy Governor announced the launch of the Multi-Signatory Accounts feature on UPI to enables multi-signatory/ joint accounts on UPI that require authorisation from one or more signatories to perform UPI payments seamlessly. Signatories can conveniently use a any UPI app to manage linked bank accounts, making the process more convenient, hassle free and enhancing transaction speed. This feature is fully interoperable, allowing initiators to use any UPI or bank apps, while signatories can approve via any UPI or bank app. By eliminating the delays, it improves efficiency and creates complete transparency through digital records of approvals and payments.

This is the first time UPI is extending approval-based payment capabilities to joint/ multi-signatory account holders. Corporates, MSMEs, start-ups, trusts, and joint account holders can now use UPI for vendor payments, recurring payments, reimbursements, etc. that require authorisation from one or more users/ signatories.

Small Value Transactions Using Wearable Glasses via UPI Lite 

The RBI Deputy Governor also announced the launch of ‘Small Value Transactions using Wearable Glasses via UPI Lite’. UPI Lite is designed for small-value, high-frequency payments with enhanced success rates and minimal dependency on core banking infrastructure. With this integration, users can complete hands-free and secure transactions by simply scanning a QR, authenticate and complete payments through voice on Smart Glasses, without needing a phone or entering a PIN. The solution is aimed at everyday payments such as retail, food, and transit, encouraging greater digital payment penetration. This feature addresses customers’ growing demand for seamless, frictionless payments that integrate effortlessly into their always-connected, on-the-go digital lifestyle. This launch marks the first time UPI is extended to the wearable ecosystem, representing a step towards ‘ambient payments’ by enabling seamless digital payments. It also benefits banks and PSPs by reducing core banking system load through off-CBS wallet execution. Embedding UPI Lite on Smart Glasses enhances convenience for consumers and strengthens India’s leadership in digital payment innovation globally.

Forex on Bharat Connect

The event also featured the launch of linkage of FX Retail Platform with Bharat Connect, enabling retail customers to access foreign currency (USD) through their preferred payment/banking apps integrated with the Bharat Connect (BBPS) platform.

The product, launched by NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd. (NBBL) in collaboration with the Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) and under the guidance of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), ensures transparent pricing with real-time, competitive rates sourced from the CCIL-managed FX-Retail platform. Customers can seamlessly buy USD for three delivery modes – Currency notes, Forex Card Load or Outward Remittance and fulfill digitally on Bank’s platform or visit a Bank Branch post purchase of forex.

This integration allows individual customers of participating Authorised Dealer Category-I which are Axis Bank, Federal bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Yes Bank to register, view ‘Best Price’ in real time, and complete purchase of US Dollars digitally. It enhances convenience, security, and transparency for customers while addressing long-standing challenges such as physical documentation, inconsistent markup pricing, prolonged processing times, and long banking queues. The collaboration between NBBL, CCIL, banks and select apps is a step forward in expanding access to regulated forex services, promoting financial inclusion, and strengthening India’s digital payments ecosystem.

Why e-commerce Companies In India are Upgrading to Smarter Payment Gateways

Indian e-commerce has witnessed rapid growth in recent years as more consumers move online for everything from essentials to luxury items. At the heart of every successful transaction is a payment gateway in India that enables fast secure payments while meeting rising expectations for convenience and reliability.

As competition increases and customer habits evolve, e-commerce companies are recognising the need for smarter payment gateways in India. These solutions offer multiple payment options and advanced security while enabling instant refunds, real-time analytics and seamless integration with various sales platforms.

The right payment gateway can boost sales, reduce abandoned carts and enhance brand trust. Knowing the reasons behind business upgrades to payment infrastructure is essential for staying ahead in an evolving marketplace.

The changing face of Indian e-commerce

The Indian e-commerce sector has evolved beyond simply offering products online. Today's shoppers expect fast checkouts, flexible payment options and complete security for their data. As mobile shopping becomes the norm and digital wallets, UPI and Buy Now Pay Later grow in popularity, businesses need a payment gateway that can keep up with evolving innovations.

Legacy payment gateways were built for basic card processing and standard bank transfers. In contrast, a modern payment gateway in India delivers a superior experience by supporting multiple payment modes, instant refunds and advanced security features. E-commerce businesses are now recognising that their choice of payment partner is as critical as their product range or website design.

Why the right payment gateway matters for e-commerce success

A smooth and dependable payment process is key to earning customer trust and increasing conversions in online retail. As customers demand faster checkouts and greater security, choosing the right payment gateway has become critical for e-commerce businesses looking to stay ahead. The right partner helps reduce abandoned carts, supports multiple payment options and strengthens brand loyalty.

With competition growing and technology advancing quickly, businesses cannot afford to overlook their payment infrastructure. An efficient payment gateway streamlines operations and helps maintain compliance with evolving regulations. Upgrading your gateway is an investment that supports growth, improves customer satisfaction and gives your e-commerce brand a distinct advantage in the marketplace.

Key features driving the shift to smarter payment gateways in India

As e-commerce in India evolves, businesses must choose payment solutions that meet both customer expectations and operational demands. The latest payment gateways in India come packed with features that make every transaction faster, safer and easier for both merchants and buyers.

Below are the essential advantages that set smarter payment gateways apart from older solutions:

Faster and smoother checkouts

Speed is crucial in e-commerce. A modern payment gateway in India is built to reduce checkout friction with quick load times, fewer redirects and support for one-click payments for returning customers.

With a large portion of Indian shoppers now transacting via smartphones, mobile-optimised payment flows are essential. A seamless experience ensures customers can complete purchases without hassle, directly increasing conversion rates and reducing the likelihood of abandoned carts.

Support for new payment methods

Today's shoppers expect a variety of ways to pay. An advanced payment gateway enables credit or debit cards alongside UPI, digital wallets, EMI, Pay Later and net banking.

By bringing these options together in a single interface, businesses can meet the needs of diverse audiences. This flexibility is especially important for younger buyers and shoppers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities who often prefer UPI or wallets over traditional cards.

Reliability and high success rates

Payment failures cause frustration and may deter repeat purchases. Smarter payment gateways in India use features such as intelligent routing, backup servers and real-time error monitoring to ensure high success rates for transactions. Many leading providers now publish their uptime and performance statistics giving e-commerce brands the data needed to choose a reliable partner.

Fraud prevention and security

With increased online transactions comes increased risk. A payment gateway must prioritise security through PCI DSS compliance, tokenisation, two-factor authentication and live fraud monitoring. These measures protect both customer data and business revenue, building trust and long-term loyalty.

Instant refunds and easy settlements

Efficient handling of refunds and settlements is a critical part of customer service. Some of the best payment gateways in India allow for instant or same-day refunds, real-time settlement dashboards and automated reconciliation. This helps businesses manage cash flow, speeds up returns for buyers and keeps communication transparent.

Advanced analytics and seamless integration

Informed decisions come from actionable insights. Leading payment gateways in India provide real-time analytics dashboards, advanced integration with ERP or accounting software and detailed transaction reports. These tools empower companies to optimise payment processes, spot trends and address issues quickly.

Regulatory compliance

Staying compliant with changing regulations is non-negotiable. Smarter payment gateways support automated GST invoicing, tax reporting and always stay updated with the latest RBI and data privacy mandates. This automation simplifies business operations and lets e-commerce brands focus on growth.

Upgrade your payment experience with a smarter payment gateway

Switching to a smarter payment gateway in India is no longer just an option for e-commerce companies aiming to grow in India's fast-changing retail environment. The right gateway supports multiple payment methods, provides strong security and ensures rapid checkouts across all devices. It delivers real-time insights to help businesses adapt quickly to market demands and regulatory changes. A modern payment gateway is a strategic partner that powers business growth, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.

Payment gateways like Pine Labs Online offer the advanced solutions today's e-commerce brands need to stay ahead. As consumer expectations keep rising, an advanced and flexible payment gateway in India gives your business the advantage to grow and succeed with confidence.

EximPe Secures RBI PA-CB In-Principle Licence to Build Cross-Border Payments Infrastructure for Asian Emerging Markets

• The company plans to expand its business across the India-Asia corridor by 10X by the end of FY2026

EximPe, a cross-border payment startup, today announced that it has secured the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Payment Aggregator Cross-Border (PA-CB) In-Principle licence (Export and Import). This achievement makes the company one of the first to receive this new regulatory authorization without any existing payments licences. With this licence, EximPe plans to enable compliant cross-border pay-ins and pay-outs for digital services, e-commerce, and B2B goods trade, serving businesses across Asian emerging markets.

The PA-CB licence will significantly enhance the company’s ability to facilitate seamless cross-border payments and simplify compliance for businesses engaged in international trade. The licence will enable EximPe to transition from a technology platform enabling cross border payments to being able to provide a fully regulated cross border infra play. This capability is expected to benefit a wide range of businesses in sectors such as e-commerce, digital services, and manufacturing, ultimately reducing transaction friction and enhancing the global competitiveness of Indian SMEs.

Arjun Zacharia, CEO and Founder of EximPe, said, “Securing the PA-CB licence is a significant milestone in our journey. This validation of our hard work reaffirms our commitment to building a robust cross-border payment infrastructure. With this licence, EximPe is uniquely positioned to support businesses in expanding in the highest growth global corridor between India-Asia, while simplifying complex regulatory and financial requirements. With the PA-CB licence, we want to expand our business by 10X by the end of FY 2026.”

The platform has already processed over $450 million in transactions and serves more than 5,000 SMEs, manufacturers, and service providers. The company aims to further strengthen its position as a leading cross-border payment infrastructure provider by expanding its capabilities with this new licence.

About EximPe

Founded by Arjun Zacharia, EximPe is a B2B cross-border fintech that partners with banks to provide a technology platform that provides seamless cross-border payments, The All-in-one platform provides real time rate booking, compliance, and trade documentation for businesses. The company serves a range of businesses who trade or sell services globally.

For more information, visit eximpe.com

Axis Bank, boAt & Mastercard Launch Smartwatch That Lets You Pay with a Tap—No Wallet Needed

Axis Bank, one of the largest private sector Banks in India, today announced that it has collaborated with boAt, India’s No.1 wearable brand, and Mastercard, a global technology leader in payments, to seamlessly integrate tap & pay NFC enabled payments for its newly launched ‘Wave Fortune’, a cutting-edge smartwatch. Priced competitively at ₹3,299 (₹2,599 during special offers), Wave Fortune is designed to empower users with convenience, security, and a next-level smartwatch experience

Axis Bank cardholders can now securely tokenize and store their debit and credit cards on the WAVE Fortune Smartwatch via Crest Pay, boAt’s official payments app and make contactless payments effortlessly. This feature, powered by Mastercard’s tokenization technology and supported by the robust token requestor infrastructure of TAPPY Technologies, allows single-step payment of up to ₹5,000 on a POS device without entering card PIN, ensuring both speed and security.

Powered by Mastercard, the payment system allows users to securely tokenize and store their cards within the smartwatch strap for quick and seamless transactions. Axis Bank credit and debit cardholders on Mastercard and VISA networks will continue to enjoy the rewards and benefits of their linked card while making payments with the Wave Fortune smartwatch.

Commenting on the partnership, Arnika Dixit, President & Head - Cards, Payments and Wealth Management, Axis Bank, said, “At Axis Bank, we have been continuously working on innovation-led partnership models to offer innovative and secure digital banking solutions to customers. In this effort, we are delighted to have partnered with boAt to truly make payments on-the-go, seamlessly integrating contactless payments into people’s day-to-day lives. Bringing in our expertise in tokenized contactless payments, ‘Wave Fortune’, a cutting-edge smartwatch will allow the users with the highest standards of safety and security, combined with a quick and convenient payment experience.”

Sameer Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, boAt, said, "At boAt, we are always striving to push the boundaries of technology to enhance everyday convenience. Our partnership with Axis Bank brings secure, effortless payments to the wrist, making contactless transactions more accessible than ever."

Gautam Aggarwal, Division President, South Asia at Mastercard said, “In the near future, payments will be gesture-based — integrated into our daily routines, with transactions occurring in a frictionless manner. Wearable devices, irrespective of the form factor, will play a key role in this evolution, offering quick and secure payment experiences. As a company committed to shaping this future of commerce, Mastercard is delighted to power the tokenization enabled smartwatch, empowering users to pay with their credit or debit cards.”

Wave Fortune Smartwatch

In addition to its contactless payment functionality, the Wave Fortune smartwatch is designed to keep users connected, stylish, and productive - whether at the gym, on the move, or in business settings. It brings secure, on-the-go payments to the wrist and reflects boAt’s vision of merging convenience with innovation to create lifestyle-driven wearables.

A Display That Shines, Features That Deliver

• Vivid 1.96” HD display with 240x282 resolution and 550 nits brightness for exceptional clarity - even under direct sunlight
• Wake gesture for quick access to time and notifications
• DIY Watch Face Studio to personalize your home screen with images, themes, or artworks

Fitness and Utility 

• Built-InEarn boAt Coins by achieving fitness milestones - redeemable for boAt offers
• Ultra-clear Bluetooth Calling, interactive dial pad, contact saving, and direct access to Crest Pay

The Wave Fortune smartwatch is now available in Active Black on the [boAt website].

Paytm Introduces Personalized UPI IDs to Enhance Payment Privacy and Prevent Mobile Number Exposure

• Enables creation of personalized UPI handles like name@ptyes and name@ptaxis, helping hide mobile numbers and avoid sharing them during payments
• Strengthens privacy and offers a more personalized UPI payment experience

Paytm (One97 Communications Limited), India’s leading payments and financial services distribution company and the pioneer of mobile payments, QR codes, and Soundbox, has introduced personalized UPI IDs, enhancing privacy and offering a more flexible way to make mobile payments. This advancement reflects the company’s commitment to simplifying and securing everyday digital payments.

The new offering allows the selection of personalized UPI IDs such as name@ptyes or name@ptaxis, enabling individuals to send and receive money without revealing their mobile numbers. It is currently live on handles issued by Yes Bank and Axis Bank and will be extended to other banking partners shortly.

Whether you're paying a shopkeeper, settling up with a delivery executive, or transferring money to a new vendor, Paytm remains India’s most trusted and secure way to pay. With personalized UPI IDs, Paytm now offers even greater privacy. When a user sends or receives money using their personalized UPI ID, their mobile number stays hidden from the transaction details. This protects personal information while still allowing individuals to create a unique and easily recognizable payment identity. It's a seamless experience, built for trust, security, and everyday convenience.

Paytm Spokesperson said, “We have introduced personalized UPI IDs to offer more choice and privacy in payments. We heard the feedback from our customers who wanted to keep their mobile numbers private and built this solution to address that need. We remain committed to developing thoughtful innovations that make payments safer and more convenient for all.”

To create a personalized UPI ID on the Paytm app:

• Open the Paytm app
• Tap on the profile icon and go to ‘UPI Settings’
• Select ‘Manage UPI ID’ and choose a personalized ID
• Confirm and activate the new UPI ID as the primary UPI ID to be used for payments

Paytm has introduced seven other key innovations to make mobile payments safer, smarter, and more trusted. These include: (1) the ability to hide or unhide payments for enhanced privacy, (2) Automatic categorization of spends & monthly spend summary to help track and manage expenses, (3) Receive Money widget for quick access to incoming payments on the mobile home screen (4) Scan and Pay widget on the mobile home screen for faster payments, (5) auto top-up for Paytm UPI Lite to ensure seamless low-value payments of upto Rs. 5000, (6) the option to download UPI statements in PDF and Excel formats for better financial tracking, and (7) a consolidated view of total balances across all UPI-linked bank accounts - without having to add up individual balances mentally. Internationally, Paytm now enables UPI payments in the UAE, Singapore, France, Mauritius, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, offering greater convenience to Indian travelers across the globe.

Innoviti Introduces India’s First AI-driven UPI Acquirer Backup Application for Organized Retail

Innoviti Technologies Pvt. Ltd., India’s largest payments-centric retail SaaS platform for enterprise brands and their SME channel partners, have today announced the launch of India’s first AI-driven UPI Acquirer Backup Application for offline organized retailers. This application automatically activates a secondary UPI acquirer for UPI Dynamic QR transactions if the primary acquirer becomes unreliable. This breakthrough not only enhances transaction reliability and customer experience but also helps retailers save up to 6% on digital payment processing costs.

Organized retailers have saved heavily on MDR costs with the mass adoption of UPI by consumers. However, credit cards, a high MDR cost payment instrument, remains as the preferred mode for high ticket purchases leading to blended MDR costs of up to 60 bps. This worsens when an UPI acquirer fluctuates or fails. Problems begin at the checkout counter as customers irritated by delays switch to credit cards. Some payment providers offer a manual workaround – store staff can press a button on the EDC to switch acquirers after a failure, but by then it is too late. The irate customer would have already handed over a credit card and the staff would have quickly swiped it to avoid losing a sale. The result - zero-cost UPI transaction would have turned into a high MDR credit card payment, eroding the retailer’s margins without any increase in revenue. A poor checkout experience adding to the retailer’s woes.

UPI Dynamic QR transactions being a push system does not render itself to conventional payment orchestration. As a result, till now there was no intelligent router to manage acquirer failures. Innoviti’s UPI Acquirer Backup Application solves this challenge using AI unsupervised learning, that models the behavior of each UPI acquirer system based on past data and then monitors live traffic to automatically switch to an alternative acquirer before the failure occurs. The application allows merchants to set preferences and routing rules for their favored acquirers. Innoviti has already rolled out this application with some of India’s largest retailers, helping them cut MDR costs by up to 6%. The consumer experience is also enhanced with fewer failures and lesser checkout time. The new application also ensures that the switching does not affect the reconciliation in any way.

The company’s flagship product “innoviti unipay” is a payment reconciliation software. It powers payments at India’s largest retailers and is profitable with an EBITDA of 25%+. Innoviti genie is a sales acceleration software designed for electronics merchants with high agency, helping them compete better by giving access to not only distributor cash discounts and OEM dealer margins but also a whole set of sales management tools. Innoviti genie doubled its revenue in FY24-25 and is slated to breakeven at an operating level in FY26. In December 2024, Innoviti launched its payment collection app “innoviti link” for neighborhood merchants to help them expand their selling universe to remote customers without the anxiety of collections. This was developed under Innoviti’s online PA license received from RBI. The app has shown a rapid adoption as is the highest ranked payment link apps in both the App Store and Play Store. It is targeted to cover 30,000 merchants by March 2026.

The company is operating at an annualized run-rate of Rs. 150 Cr. and is targeting a full year of operating profitability in FY26, setting the stage for a proposed IPO by Mar 2026.

“Both consumers and merchants prefer to pay through UPI given its ease and commercial advantage. However, acquirer failures are an unavoidable aspect of any payment technology,” said Ms. Amrita Malik, Co-founder & President, Innoviti.

“We are excited to introduce AI in this space, enabling the systems to dynamically monitor real-time traffic and automatically re-route UPI transactions through alternate performing acquirers. This breakthrough can help merchants reduce their digital payment processing costs by up to 6%, while significantly enhancing the customer checkout experience.”

About Innoviti Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Innoviti provides payments-centric retail SaaS software to enterprise brands and their SME channel partners, giving them a competitive edge to help them grow faster, smarter, and with less efforts than possible with traditional payment solutions. Innoviti’s software run across online and offline payment channels, processing over ₹80,000 Cr. annually across 2,000 cities, serving over 6,000 merchants online and 20,000 merchants offline.

The company processes more than 50% of all purchases happening in enterprise retailers in the food & grocery, lifestyle, and healthcare categories.

Backed by marquee investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, USA, FMO, Netherlands, Catamaran Ventures (Mr. Narayana Murthy’s family office), India, and the Patni Family Office, India, Innoviti is the recipient of RBI’s final authorization to operate as an online payment aggregator. The company has several accolades to its name including the 50 fastest growing companies in Asia award from Deloitte (won four times), Reliance Innovation Award, and the Mastercard Innovation Award. Innoviti’s technology edge is visible through the 11 patents awarded, with 16 more in pipeline.

Axis Bank and JPMorgan Partner to Enhance Blockchain-based Payments

JPMorgan and Axis Bank have partnered to enhance blockchain-based payments, introducing 24/7 programmable USD clearing for commercial clients. This collaboration  aims to streamline cross-border transactions, offering real-time payment execution and improved liquidity management.

A 24/7 programmable USD clearing is a blockchain-based payment system that allows businesses to settle USD transactions in real time, anytime, without being restricted by traditional banking hours. This system is powered by Kinexys, JPMorgan's blockchain platform, and has been adopted by Axis Bank, making it the first Indian bank to offer this capability.

Traditional payments often involve multiple intermediaries, leading to delays. Blockchain enables real-time settlements, significantly reducing processing times from days to minutes.

The Axis–JPMorgan partnership leverages Kinexys, JPMorgan's blockchain platform, to streamline cross-border transactions, offering real-time payment execution and improved liquidity management. Axis Bank is the first Indian bank to adopt this infrastructure, operating out of GIFT City, India's international financial hub.

The Kinexys platform has already processed over $1.5 trillion in transaction volume, with a daily average exceeding $2 billion, reflecting a 10x year-over-year growth in payment transactions.

This move aligns with India's broader push for financial innovation, integrating blockchain into mainstream banking. This could be a game-changer for businesses seeking faster, more transparent payments.

To recall, in early of last month Axis Bank become the first Indian bank to execute an aircraft financing transaction through its International Banking Unit (IBU) at GIFT City IFSC. The landmark deal was completed for AI Fleet Services Ltd (AIFS), the leasing arm and wholly owned subsidiary of Air India (a Tata Group Company).

In January 2022, Axis Bank executed India’s first domestic trade transaction on the Secured Logistics Document Exchange (SLDE), a Government of India-backed blockchain platform. This initiative enhances transparency, speed, and auditability in trade finance.

Notably, Axis Bank is part of a 15-bank consortium exploring blockchain solutions for trade finance, aiming to reduce fraud and improve transaction efficiency.

PaymentTech Startup ToneTag Raises $78 Mn in a Round Led by Valuequest S.C.A.L.E. Fund and Others

Naffa Innovations Pvt. Ltd. (ToneTag), India’s leading voice-based payment and commerce solutions provider, has attracted an investment of INR 674 crores in its Series B2 funding round. The funding is a combination of primary and secondary capital and is led by ValueQuest S.C.A.L.E. Fund and its co-investors who have committed over 50% of the round, Iron Pillar, Elevate Inflection Capital LLC. Existing investor Elevate Innovation Partners LLC are also participating in this round. This investment will enable ToneTag to revamp customers payment experiences and accelerate its global expansion.

Kumar Abhishek, Founder and CEO of ToneTag

With over 30 million interactions per day, ToneTag is leveraging its patented soundwave protocol to deliver a seamless solution to its customers. Its stability at this scale highlights India’s prowess in creating globally competitive product companies. ToneTag counts global tech giants and leading Indian Banks amongst its customers in a B2B SaaS offering.

The company’s commitment to innovation has earned the trust of leading investors and partners. The funds raised will be directed toward scaling operations, advancing R&D efforts, recruiting quality talent, and enhancing marketing initiatives. ToneTag is also setting its sights on new markets in Asia, South America and the Middle East to bring its transformative solutions to a wider audience.

Pushkar Jauhari, MD & Head of Private Equity at ValueQuest commented, “India's digital payment landscape has been growing rapidly, and we are excited to partner with ToneTag. ToneTag’s innovative voice-based technology coupled with regulatory and customer validation positions it well to capture market opportunity. At ValueQuest, we like backing companies that leverage new technology and commercialize offerings to address real world challenges.”

Adding to this, Ashok Ananthakrishnan, Partner of Iron Pillar said, “We have been tracking ToneTag since 2017 and are excited to see the progress made by the company in terms of its marquee customer base, growth and profitability of the business. We are delighted to partner ToneTag in its next phase of growth in the payment infrastructure ecosystem. We believe ToneTag can play a crucial role in deepening and widening the UPI user base in both feature and non-feature phones in India. Iron Pillar is also keen on partnering ToneTag in its foray into newer markets such as GCC, SouthEast Asia and South America”

Sridhar Chityala of Elevate Inflection Capital LLC and Elevate Innovation Partners LLC said, “ToneTag by Naffa innovations represents one of the most revolutionary and innovative transformation programs in the payments industry. Powered by patented Soundwave communication protocols for device-to-device engagement operating on Mobile infrastructure, democratization of payments is now a reality. ToneTag service is unique that it operates both under digital and analog protocols. Thanks to India for the UPI payment protocol that it has dedicated to the industry, digitiazation of payments is skyrocketing in India. An outstanding team, client base, and well backed investor base, we are proud to be a part of this company since 2017”

Kumar Abhishek, Founder and CEO of ToneTag, said, “This funding round is a testament to the trust our investors have in our vision and technology prowess. With their support, we are ready to take the next big leap of bringing awe-inspiring experiences in the hands of consumers and expanding our solutions globally. This is not just a milestone for ToneTag but for India’s product innovation landscape.”

With a firm foundation and ambitious vision, ToneTag continues to set benchmarks in the payment technology space, paving the way for secure, scalable, and transformative commerce solutions worldwide. This round was orchestrated by Nitish Aggarwal and Anu Aggarwal from Investment banking firm Probhus Ventures , operationally supported by Girish Kaushik and Suman Bajoria from JAA Associates and legal consultants from Lex Connect Consulting

Mastercard Unveils Near Real-Time Cross-Border Payments for Banks

Mastercard has introduced a groundbreaking innovation called Mastercard Move Commercial Payments. This new solution aims to revolutionize cross-border payments for banks by enabling near real-time, predictable, and transparent commercial cross-border payments.

The solution facilitates payments that are almost instantaneous, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Banks and their customers gain end-to-end visibility, making cross-border transactions more predictable and transparent.

The innovation simplifies operations for banks, optimizing liquidity and reducing counterparty risk. It is fully compatible with existing correspondent banking arrangements between respondents and correspondents. Large clearing banks can extend the service to their institutional customers with minimal changes to their current processes.

Value added services tailored for a bank’s unique needs, including innovative risk control services and fraud analytics.

The solution is designed to support the growing demand for cross-border payments as businesses expand their international operations.

This innovation was revealed at the annual Sibos conference in Beijing and is expected to bring the efficiency of domestic payments to the cross-border payment space.

 

In a pilot in the UK with Lloyds Banking Group and UBS, using Fnality as the settlement venue, Mastercard Move Commercial Payments is being used to deliver near real-time, around-the-clock cross-border transfers.

Mastercard Move Commercial Payments is part of the Mastercard Move portfolio of money transfer capabilities that enables people and businesses to move funds quickly and securely, both domestically and internationally.

To recall, Citi and Mastercard have joint solutions for Mastercard debit cards aim for near real-time transfers. Besides Citi, Alipay too have partnered with Mastercard to expand its services to allow consumers to receive money in their digital wallets, facilitating cross-border transactions.

Visa Direct enables near real-time cross-border money movement, allowing funds to be available within 30 minutes. PayPal too offers near real-time transfers, especially when linked to debit cards. Western Union generally provides near real-time transfers, depending on the recipient's location and delivery method.

However, Mastercard Move Commercial Payments stands out from other cross-border payment solutions in several ways. While other solutions offer near real-time transactions, Mastercard Move Commercial Payments emphasizes 24/7 availability and 365 days a year.

Mastercard Move provides end-to-end visibility and predictable transaction times, which is crucial for businesses managing international operations. The solution optimizes liquidity and reduces counterparty risk, simplifying operations for banks. It includes a multilateral arrangement to reduce counterparty risk and ensure certainty in end-to-end transaction clearing.

Additionally, Mastercard Move has Flexible Settlement Options. Banks can optimize liquidity without affecting foreign exchange and deposit-related revenues.

These features make Mastercard Move Commercial Payments a comprehensive solution designed to address the pain points of cross-border payments more effectively than some of its competitors.

Mastercard Selects India for Debuting Its New Payment Service That Uses Biometrics

Mastercard has chosen India for the global launch of its Payment Passkey Service. This innovative service aims to enhance online shopping security by using biometric authentication methods such as fingerprints and facial recognition, replacing traditional passwords and one-time passwords (OTPs).

The service was unveiled at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai and is being piloted with major Indian payment players like Juspay, Razorpay, and PayU, as well as online merchants such as bigbasket and banks like Axis Bank. This move is expected to significantly reduce online fraud, which has surged by nearly 300% in India over the past two years.

It is to be noted that despite the rising popularity of one-time passwords (OTPs) due to their ease of use, they are increasingly vulnerable to online scams such as phishing, SIM swapping and message interception. In India, the incidence of fraud cases has surged by nearly 300% in the last two years, as reported by the Reserve Bank of India’s Annual Report for 2023-2024.

By leveraging tokenization and biometric authentication, Mastercard's Payment Passkey Service aims to make online transactions faster and more secure, providing a seamless checkout experience for millions of shoppers.

The Mastercard Payment Passkey Service uses tokenization to secure a consumer’s payment details and biometric data, ensuring that no data is shared with third parties and is useless to fraudsters and scammers. The service is a game changer for online checkout:

1. Shoppers choose their Mastercard when checking out as a guest or select a card already stored securely on file with a merchant.

2. To confirm the payment, users can use biometric authentication mechanism features on their device – whether it’s a fingerprint, face scan or PIN.

3. Upon successful authentication, the payment is instantly completed.

Other countries are also adopting biometric authentication technologies for online transactions and digital identity systems.

Singapore’s SingPass system is one of the most advanced digital ID systems globally, allowing citizens to access over 700 government and private sector services using biometric authentication.

Similarily, Estonia’s eID system is renowned for its security and efficiency, offering over 600 e-services to citizens and 2400 to businesses. It uses biometric data to ensure secure access.

"We are excited to be partnering with Mastercard to pilot its Payment Passkey Service as an alternate transaction authentication method and provide our customers a non-OTP-based solution for transaction management,” said Sanjeev Moghe, president and head, Cards & Payments, at Axis Bank. “This will allow us to provide more engaging usage and in-app experience for customers who desire enhanced security and frictionless payments.”

“Enabling this industry-first proof of concept underscores Juspay’s commitment to empower merchants with innovation and technology that improves the e-commerce experience,” said Sheetal Lalwani, chief operating officer and co-founder of Juspay. “We believe this solution will help our merchant customers improve payment success rates and overall sales. With this pilot, merchants can significantly improve the payment experience for end consumers, allowing them to make payments easily, without multiple redirects, in a safe and secure way using device biometrics. We are working with Mastercard in shaping a future where digital payments are seamless and accessible to all, enabling merchants to better serve their customers.”

"As the country’s payment ecosystem matures, the demand for advanced and secure payment solutions is greater than ever,” said Manas Mishra, PayU’s chief product officer. “At PayU, we are relentlessly focused on pushing the boundaries of payment security and user experience as a resiliently progressive payments platform. Integrating the Mastercard Payment Passkey Service is a pivotal step in that direction. This partnership reflects our commitment to embracing cutting-edge payment technologies and reinforces our role in setting new benchmarks for security and efficiency in digital transactions."

"We are thrilled to join forces with Mastercard to introduce its Payment Passkey Service in India, a groundbreaking initiative that enhances transaction security and user experience in remote commerce, leveraging the power of biometric authentication,” said Arif Khan, chief innovation officer of Razorpay. “At Razorpay, our focus is on the 3 's's — safety, simplification and success rate — to ensure seamless and secure online payments. We strive to stay ahead of the curve by integrating advanced technologies that not only safeguard our merchants and their customers but also streamline the payment process."

Iran and Russia Developing CBDC, Tokenized Assets for Payments for Cross-Border Transactions

Iran has confirmed its collaboration with Russia on developing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and tokenized assets for payments. This initiative is part of their efforts to facilitate trade transactions and mitigate the impact of sanctions, as both countries are currently unable to use SWIFT for cross-border payments and have limitations on trading in dollars or euros.

The two nations are exploring the use of Iran's crypto-rial and Russia's digital ruble for bilateral trade. The move is seen as a way to simplify trade transactions and resolve issues related to fiat currency conversion rates, which can lead to significant business operation costs.

Due to US sanctions, Iran and Russia are unable to make settlements in Dollars and Euros, Russia and Iran have switched to the use of national currencies, said Maxim Chereshnev, chairman of the board of the Council for the Development of Foreign Trade and International Economic Relations. However, difficulties arise with conversion. And also due to the inconsistency of the market rate in Iran with the state. "Starting payments through CFA and digital currencies of central banks can simplify trading", Chereshnev said with surity.

The two countries have strengthened their economic ties, with Russia being one of Iran’s largest trading partners. Russia has invested in Iran’s energy sector, and the two countries have discussed cooperation in areas such as transportation and infrastructure development.

Russia has recently passed legislation allowing the use of digital financial assets (DFAs), such as tokenized gold, for cross-border payments, which is a shift from their previous stance where such assets were not permitted for payments. This change is aimed at circumventing sanctions and facilitating international trade between Russia and Iran.

The practical implementation of these digital currencies and assets is still under development, with cross-border CBDC settlements expected to be possible starting January 1, 2025, following the establishment of the necessary legal framework in Russia. This collaboration marks a significant step in the use of digital currencies in international trade, particularly among countries facing economic sanctions.

Experts say that, CBDCs can significantly improve the efficiency of cross-border payments by reducing the time it takes to process transactions. Traditional cross- border payments can take several days due to the involvement of multiple intermediaries, but CBDCs can streamline this process.

As of March 2024, there are a few countries that have functioning CBDCs and are exploring or using them for cross-border transactions.

The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria have functioning CBDCs. Moreover, the 5-Nations group – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), along with new members like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE, are in the pilot phase of CBDC exploration for cross-border wholesale transactions.

Australia and China are among the countries piloting use cases for their CBDCs, which may include cross-border transactions.

Additionally, SWIFT, the global provider of secure financial messaging services, has been working on solutions to enable financial institutions to incorporate CBDCs and other digital assets into common business practices, which includes cross-border transactions. This indicates a growing trend towards the adoption of CBDCs in international trade and finance.

NPCI To Deploy India’s UPI Stack in Namibia, Partners Bank of Namibia

NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has partnered with the Bank of Namibia (BoN). This collaboration is aimed at developing an instant payment system in Namibia, similar to India's Unified Payment Interface (UPI). The agreement is a significant step towards enhancing Namibia's financial infrastructure and promoting inclusive economic growth.

The partnership will leverage the technology and experience gained from India's UPI to improve accessibility, affordability, and interoperability within Namibia's financial ecosystem. It's also expected to bolster real-time Person-to-Person (P2P) and Merchant payment transactions (P2M) in Namibia, a country in Southwest Africa. 

This strategic move is aligned with the Bank of Namibia's goals to modernize the financial sector, ensure a secure and efficient National Payment System, and achieve full interoperability of payment instruments by 2025. It's particularly focused on enhancing financial access for underserved populations and supporting the growth of digital Entrepreneurship.

The robust security features of the UPI platform are anticipated to instill confidence among users and stakeholders, ensuring scalability for future technological advancements and market demands. This initiative is expected to connect individuals, businesses, and government entities across Namibia, facilitating more efficient economic interactions.

Mr. Johannes !Gawaxab, Hon'ble Governor of the Bank of Namibia, said, “Our objective is to enhance accessibility and affordability for underserved populations, achieve full interoperability of payment instruments by 2025, modernize the financial sector, and ensure a secure and efficient National Payment System. This endeavour, aligned with the Bank's Strategic Plan and NPS Vision and Strategy 2025, deliberately employs a central bank-led approach to minimize infrastructure costs for financial institutions, thereby ensuring the sustainability and affordability of instant payment solutions for end users. This system aims to connect individuals, businesses, and government entities across Namibia, including the payment of social grants, enabling more efficient economic interactions and supporting the growth of digital entrepreneurship.”

Speaking on partnership, Mr. Ritesh Shukla, CEO, NPCI International said, “We are proud to join hands with Bank of Namibia to enable the deployment of UPI-like real-time payments system in Namibia for the Digital Public Good of its citizens. We are excited about this partnership, which will enable Namibian citizens to transact instantly leveraging technology and experiences from India's UPI. By enabling this technology, the country will gain sovereignty in the digital payments landscape and stand to benefit from enhanced payment interoperability and improved financial access for underserved populations. This will also ensure scalability and adaptability to embrace future technological advancements and market demands, thereby propelling economic prosperity in the region.”

Several countries are adopting India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) technology which include Bhutan, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland (Europe), Oman, and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

These partnerships reflect the growing global interest in UPI's efficient and secure payment system, which has revolutionized digital payments in India and is now finding momentum in international markets.

Cognizant and FICO to Provide Real-Time Payment Fraud Prevention Solution to Banks

Cognizant and FICO have joined forces to address the challenge of real-time payments fraud. Their planned collaboration aims to provide a cloud-based real-time payment fraud prevention solution powered by FICO Falcon Fraud Manager.

The joint offering leverages both firms' artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology to help banks and other payment service providers in North America protect their customers from fraud in the growing world of instant digital payments.

While real-time payments have brought speed and convenience, they have also opened the door for scammers. The Cognizant and FICO solution aims to provide real-time fraud prevention by seamlessly integrating with the real-time payments rails. It is expected to enable the detection and blocking of fraudulent transactions with greater accuracy, minimizing losses and ensuring a secure consumer experience.

The collaboration combines the Cognizant communication layer and clearing gateway with FICO Falcon Fraud Manager, which is a leading payments fraud management solution.

The solution targets multiple payment clearings, including FedNow, RTP, and SEPA Instant Credit Transfer.

Banks of all sizes can implement this proposed cloud-based solution on a pay-per-use or licensing basis, eliminating upfront costs. Additionally, the solution handles complex compliance requirements and integration tasks, allowing businesses to focus on their core operations.

Nageswar Cherukupalli, Senior Vice President & Business Unit Head of Banking & Capital Markets and Strategic Initiatives of Cognizant, emphasizes that the collaboration intends to provide an AI- and ML-based layer of protection against sophisticated threats, enhancing consumer safety and reducing losses.

In summary, this partnership aims to create a safer and more secure future for real-time payments, ensuring that customers are protected in the evolving landscape of digital transactions.

BRICS To Create Blockchain-based Payments To Reduce US Dollar Reliance

BRICS, the five Nations group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, will work to create an independent payment system based on digital currencies and blockchain, reported Russian news agency TASS, citing Yury Ushakov, who is the Assistant to the President of Russia for Foreign Policy.

Ushakov said that the specific task for this year is to increase the role of BRICS in the international monetary and financial system.

BRICS officials emphasised the importance of establishing an autonomous BRICS payment system, leveraging state-of-the-art tools like digital technologies and blockchain. The priority is to ensure convenience for governments, individuals, and businesses, along with cost-effectiveness and non-political influences.

The goal is to make sure it is convenient for governments, common people and businesses, as well as cost-effective and free of politics.

In the 2023 BRICS Summit's Johannesburg Declaration, the leaders set the focus of BRICS countries on increasing settlements in national currencies and strengthening correspondent banking networks to secure international transactions. "Work will continue to develop the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, primarily regarding the use of currencies different from the US dollar."

TASS also reported that Russia’s Finance Ministry, the Bank of Russia, and BRICS partners will create the BRICS Bridge multisided payment platform in an effort to improve the global monetary system.

In the last BRICS Summit, Brazil's President called for the BRICS nations to create a common currency for trade and investment between each other, as a means of reducing their vulnerability to dollar exchange rate fluctuations.

RBI Approves NPCI Bharat BillPay to Implement an Interoperable Payment System for Internet Banking Transactions

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved NPCI Bharat BillPay Ltd to implement an interoperable payment system for internet banking transactions. The new system will facilitate quicker settlement of funds for merchants.

Expected to be launched during the current calendar year, the new system will enable customers to pay businesses through net banking irrespective of whether their banks and the merchants’ payment aggregator are integrated.

Currently, online merchant payment transactions are processed through payment aggregators, which are not interoperable. So a bank is required to separately integrate with each payment aggregator of different online merchants.

India accounts for 46% of the world's digital transactions.

Speaking at an event "Digital Payment Awareness Week" in Mumbai, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said, "Internet Banking is one of the oldest modes for online merchant payment transactions. It is a preferred channel for payments like income tax, insurance premium, mutual fund payments and e-commerce."

Governor Das said that there is no common payment system and a set of rules for digital transactions at the moment. But when it comes to digital transactions, the world is looking at India, he said.

The proposed interoperable net banking payments will act as a clearing house to settle internet banking transactions between customers and merchants. This would eliminate the need for individual tie-ups.

New UPI Guidelines: Your UPI ID/Number May Diactivate If Fails Latest NPCI Guidelines

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) the creator of successful payment method UPI, has laid out new guidelines making banks and third-party UPI (Unified Payments Interface) apps disable IDs inactive if you won’t meet the latest conditions announced.

NPCI has mandated that all UPI Apps including TPAPs (Third Party Application Providers) and PSP (Payment Service Provider) Banks shall implement the same by 31st Dec'23. This directive is applicable to all relevant stakeholders for appropriate actions.

“In the realm of digital payments, it is essential for customers to regularly review and verify their information within the banking system to ensure a safe and secure transactional experience. However, it has come to our attention that customers may change to a new mobile number without disassociating their previous number from the banking system," NPCI mentioned in the latest notification. 

Deactivation refers to disabling inward credit functionality for unused UPI IDs and linked phone numbers. The deadline for this automated culling is December 31, 2023.

Banks and app providers must separate associated phone numbers and UPI IDs that have no financial or non-financial transactions in the past calendar year.

The guidelines apply to all major UPI apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, BHIM and Amazon Pay among others.

In its circular, NPCI directed that, in order to prevent the inadvertent transfer of funds to unintended recipients and safeguard the interests of UPI users, the following guidelines are being issued to the UPI 

ecosystem:

• All TPAPs and PSP banks shall identify UPI IDs and associated UPI numbers and phone numbers of customers who have not performed any financial (debit or credit) or non-financial transactions for a time period of 1 year from the UPI Apps.
• UPI IDs and UPI Numbers of such customers shall be disabled for inward credit transactions. Further to this, PSPs shall deregister the same phone number from UPI mapper as well.
• Customers with inward credit block UPI IDs and phone numbers shall re-register in their respective UPI apps for UPI mapper linkage. Customers can make payments, non-financial transactions using UPI Pin as needed.
• UPI apps shall perform Requester Validation (ReqValAd) before initiating 'pay-to-contact'/'pay to mobile number'. UPI Apps shall show the customer name which has been fetched before initiating the transaction and shall not display the name which has been stored/cached at the apps end.

Sound-based PaymentTech Co. ToneTag Launches Payments through Connected Cars and Conversational Payments

ToneTag breaks new grounds in Fintech: Connected car payments and Conversational payments on UPI take center stage

ToneTag, India's fastest-growing wireless sound-based payment service provider, launched two groundbreaking technologies simultaneously at the Global Fintech Fest 2023. These innovations are poised to redefine digital payments and offer unparalleled convenience on a global scale.

ToneTag, renowned for its pioneering work in the fintech sector, continues to set new benchmarks in technological innovation. The company proudly presents its dual technological advancements as follows:

Payments through Connected Cars: Transforming the Way We Pay

ToneTag has unveiled a revolutionary solution for connected cars, setting a new standard in seamless transactions. Users can now make UPI payments directly from their car's infotainment system, eliminating the need for smartphones or wallets during transactions. ToneTag proudly stands as the world's first company to enable UPI payments through car infotainment systems, marking a significant milestone in the world of fintech.

This innovative technology is poised to redefine how payments are made, offering unparalleled convenience to connected car users. Whether it's fueling up at the gas station, paying tolls, or settling utility bills, ToneTag's solution streamlines the entire payment process, enhancing the overall journey for users.

Conversational Payments on UPI: Pay with Just Your Voice

ToneTag is excited to announce its partnership with NPCI to introduce Conversational Payments on UPI. This groundbreaking service allows users to make UPI payments using nothing but their voice. Whether it's transferring funds, settling mobile bills, paying for electricity or piped gas, or even booking LPG gas cylinders, it's now as simple as speaking.

Currently available in Hindi and English, ToneTag's Conversational Payments will soon be accessible in many regional languages. The technology is built on five robust pillars: Acoustics, language understanding, text-to-number conversion for seamless transactions, binary intent comprehension for precise actions, and text-to-speech capabilities for effortless communication.

ToneTag's simultaneous introduction of these two groundbreaking technologies represents a quantum leap forward in the fintech landscape. By simplifying and enhancing digital payments, the company envisions a future where cashless transactions are universally accessible and user-friendly.

About ToneTag:

Operating at the intersection of technology and customer-focused innovation, ToneTag is a global technology solutions provider. It offers sound-based contactless payments, location- based services, and proximity-based customer engagement services, amongst others. Since its inception in 2013, ToneTag has filed 13 global patents for a variety of exciting use cases in the payments ecosystem and the offline retail space and has touched the lives of its over 50 million global consumers. Evolving from a need to create more accessible and hardware-agnostic payment systems, ToneTag is the first company to have enabled contactless payment acceptance on Electronic Data Capture (EDC) machines using sound.

ToneTag enables cashless, digital payments from cards and e-wallets from feature phones without the use of the internet, meaning that it operates with minimal to zero hardware dependency. The technology can enable payments through any device – laptops, PCs, tablets, EDCs, mPOS, smartphones, and so on. Its SDK can be used for online and offline retail, paying for parking, toll, buses, or for making in-flight payments. This combination allows customers from all walks of life to enjoy a seamless payment process that is as convenient, frictionless, and interoperable as the use of cash – a consequence of the company’s vision to improve the quality of life globally through inventing experiences and technology Innovation.