UPI to see growth in the ‘phygital’ space in a post-covid world: NPCI

BENGALURU : Retail payments organisation National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Thursday said that the relevance of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will grow in the ‘phygital’ world, combining the physical and digital space, in a post-covid world, with increasing relaxations being witnessed in India’s lockdown.

“As merchants and users avoid crowding in shops and neighbourhood stores, merchants will start taking and managing orders digitally, while requesting for payments online remotely. The UPI-used case will only grow further in this combination of the physical and digital world,” said Praveena Rai, chief operating officer, NPCI, at a webinar.

Rai added that several digital payment fintechs are now starting to equip merchants with online payment services, where neighbourhood store owners can send an SMS, which carries a UPI-payment link and guides users to the UPI payment app installed on their phone, when clicked.