Google Pay has introduced its UPI Lite features in India, aligning with the Reserve Bank of India’s launch of UPI Lite in September of last year. The UPI Lite feature enables users to make payments of up to INR 200 without requiring a PIN to initiate the transaction, aiming to provide a convenient and lightweight UPI payment experience.
Features and Functionality of UPI Lite
According to a report by Mint, UPI Lite is linked to users’ bank accounts like the original UPI version, but it does not rely on real-time integration with the issuing bank’s core banking system. However, UPI Lite only allows users to connect a single bank account at a time, ensuring simplicity and ease of use.
Ambarish Kenghe, Google’s VP of Product Management, expressed the company’s excitement to partner with the Indian government, NPCI, and RBI in expanding the reach and usefulness of UPI. He emphasized that the introduction of UPI Lite aims to simplify small-value transactions by offering a convenient, compact, and ultra-fast payment experience.
Benefits and Competitors in the UPI Market
Google Pay’s UPI Lite promises a higher success rate, even during peak transaction hours, ensuring seamless payment experiences for users. PhonePe and Paytm, Google Pay’s competitors, had already rolled out UPI Lite earlier this year. PhonePe launched it in May, while Paytm introduced it in February.
UPI has gained widespread popularity due to its convenience and universal acceptance across banks and QR codes. Notably, countries like France, Nepal, Canada, and Bhutan have launched UPI-enabled payment services.
UPI’s Impressive Growth and PhonePe’s Dominance
The introduction of UPI Lite by Google Pay comes as UPI recorded INR 14.89 lakh crore worth of transactions in May, representing a 5.83% month-on-month growth. The transaction value increased by 43.03% year-on-year, while the transaction count rose by 58.5%, according to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
PhonePe continues to lead the UPI payments market, with 446.14 crore transactions worth INR 7.46 lakh crore in June 2023, maintaining its position at the top of the UPI payments chart.
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