Aiming to boost adoption of digital payments across the country, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) plans to upgrade its mobile payment app BHIM with a voice recognition feature.
Currently, users need to enter a UPI PIN created by them for enabling transactions. The new feature of voice recognition will be available in addition to PIN option, giving users another secure way of managing the application, a senior government official told DNA Money.
This will also improve ease of using the digital payment app as it will be convenient for many to use their voice as the password.
Many banks such as ICICI, Standard Chartered, HSBC have the facility of voice recognition for phone banking services.
Through BHIM, users can make payment transactions – send/request money as well as pay by scanning QR code. Besides, one can make instant bank-to-bank payments and pay and collect money using just mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (UPI ID).
The trials for this feature are already on and NPCI plans to start this facility within the next few months, the official said.
BHIM app, developed by NPCI, is available in more than 12 Indian languages and is based on a Unified Payments Interface (UPI). One can use BHIM app even without an internet facility. Since the launch of the app in December 2016, various measures have been taken by the government to boost the usage of digital payment methods including cashback for users and incentives for merchants.
Also, there is no need to download multiple mobile applications from various banks as the BHIM app come work for all banks. As many as 97 banks are live with UPI.
After the demonetisation move, the digital payments across the country have increased significantly.
According to data from NPCI, for the month of April this year, the total number of financial transactions through stood at 190 million while the value of these transactions amounted to Rs 27,020 crore.
BHIM app accounted for 12.6 million financial transactions while the value of these transactions amounted to Rs 4,973 crore.
Apart from UPI, many platforms have been launched for enabling seamless cashless transactions including Aadhaar-enabled payment system and mobile wallets.
Last year, to promote usage of digital payments, the government announced reimbursement merchant discount rate (MDR) applicable on digital transactions of up to Rs 2,000 for the next two years. However, this will be applicable to transactions done using debit cards, UPI BHIM application or Aadhaar. MDR is payable by the merchant to the bank when a payment is made at a merchant point of sale.
This has been a major part of the government's ambitious project Digital India which focuses on providing broadband highways, universal access to mobile connectivity, public Internet access, e-governance through technology and electronic delivery of services, among others.
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- This will improve ease of using the digital payment app as it will be convenient for many to use their voice as the password
- Currently, users need to enter a UPI PIN created by them for enabling transactions
