The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday (September 6) unveiled a suite of payments products developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) during the Global Fintech Fest 2023.
These innovative solutions, including Credit Line on UPI, UPI LITE X and Tap & Pay, Hello! UPI — Conversational Payments on UPI, and BillPay Connect — Conversational Bill Payments, are designed to foster an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable digital payments ecosystem.
The homegrown NPCI is an umbrella organisation for facilitating retail payments and settlement in India through the RuPay gateway. It is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) to create a robust payments and settlement system.
A bit more on the products:
Credit Line on UPI
This new offering enables pre-sanctioned credit lines from banks via UPI and will revolutionise customer access to credit, fostering a more streamlined and digital banking ecosystem. With this, the process of availing credit lines will be expedited, driving economic growth and progress.
UPI LITE X
Through this feature, users can now both send and receive money offline, therefore, allowing users to initiate and execute transactions even in areas with poor connectivity, such as underground stations, remote areas, etc.
UPI Tap & Pay
In a move towards enhancing QR code and Near Field Communication technology adoption, the RBI governor also introduced UPI Tap & Pay. In addition to the conventional scan and pay method, users now have the option to simply tap NFC-enabled QR codes at merchant locations to complete their payments.
Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das has been ranked as the top central banker globally by US-based Global Finance magazine.
Das has been rated ‘A+’ in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2023.
Das has been placed at the top of the list of three central bank governors who have been rated A+.
Grades are based on a scale from A to F for success in inflation control, economic growth goals, currency stability and interest rate management, according to a statement by Global Finance magazine.
An ‘A’ represents an excellent performance down through an ‘F’ for outright failure.
Das is followed by Switzerland Governor Thomas J Jordan and central bank chief of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong.
“Fighting inflation, which has been fueled by pent-up demand and disrupted supply chains, has everyone turning to their central bankers for help,” it said.
Global Finance’s annual Central Banker Report Cards celebrate bank governors whose strategies outperformed their peers through originality, creativity and tenacity, it said.
The central bank governors who earned an ‘A’ grade included Roberto Campos Neto of Brazil, Amir Yaron of Israel, Harvesh Kumar Seegolam of Mauritius and Adrian Orr of New Zealand.
Governors who earned an ‘A-‘ grade are Leonardo Villar of Colombia, Hector Valdez Albizu of Dominican Republic, Asgeir Jonsson of Iceland and Perry Warjiyo of Indonesia among others.
