Soon you will be able to make online payments through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) mode without having a stable or no internet connection.
In an ongoing development by the country’s largest private sector bank HDFC Bank, the lender has informed that it is currently working upon executing digital payments in an offline mode.
The tests are being conducted under a regulatory facility, and HDFC Bank has already started the pilot programme while partnering with other lenders like IDFC Bank, the deep tech company Crunchfish and the software firm M2P Fintech.
The partnership has been made under the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) regulatory sandbox programme after it got the approval back in September 2022, the private lender said.
The idea or purpose of having such a facility would be enormous, as it would aid in execution of online transactions in areas having no internet connection or mobile networks, along with areas in urban pockets experiencing bad internet connectivity.
The use of such a facility will also be highly beneficial in making UPI payments in airplanes.
It can be noted that there is a facility which helps users with feature phones undertake Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, said HDFC Bank in a statement.
The Mumbai-based private bank will launch this offline payment service as part of a limited pilot in over 16 cities and towns across India for a brief period of four months to get the facility tested out.
Users making payments using this offline payment route will not be able to transact more than Rs 200 in one go, or per transaction.
“This innovation will accelerate financial inclusion in remote areas by enabling adoption of digital payments as both merchants and customers can do transactions without any network,” said Parag Rao, HDFC Bank’s country head for payments business.
The pilot program focuses upon conditions when both the sender as well as receiver have no internet connection.
