MobiKwik Launches UPI on Its Platform
Digital financial services platform, MobiKwik today announced the launch of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its platform via its own VPA (Virtual payment address) handle @ikwik.
The company is offering UPI access to a huge base of 3 million merchants on its app. It is also providing Bharat QR, UPI QR and intent functionality for merchant payments. Additionally, all the MobiKwik users will be able to do P2P bank transfers using UPI.
MobiKwik’s users can, by default, use their mobile number as their own VPA which will be ‘@ikwik’. They will also be able to link multiple bank accounts with just one VPA and users can change primary account as per their requirements. Users can simply scan and generate UPI QR functionality to send and receive money using VPA and phone number from the contact list. If the receiver is also registered in Mobikwik UPI ecosystem, sender can send money by selecting his contact from phone book without remembering VPA domain. It will also be possible for the users to request money using UPI on the MobiKwik app.
Speaking on the announcement, Mr. Bipin Preet Singh, Founder and CEO, MobiKwik, said, “With the roll out of UPI, we expect a reduction in the usage of debit cards and internet banking on the MobiKwik app, as UPI will offer a better user experience. Keeping in mind our reach on the merchant side, we hope to substantially increase momentum of merchant transactions on UPI. We will be adding more payment options for the benefit of our users in the times to come.”
Promoted by the Government of India, UPI powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application of any participating bank, merging several banking features, aimed at offering seamless routing of fund and merchant payments from this single platform.
As per data shared by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), total 190M UPI transactions recorded in the month of April, a nearly 7% jump from the 178-million transactions in March. Noida-based digital payments platform Paytm has registered 62.9 million UPI transactions last month, 33% share of the total 190M UPI transactions, and was followed by Yes Bank with 22% share at 42.4 million payments. Yes Bank’s transactions are mainly generated through Flipkart-owned payment application PhonePe.
