This year’s Global Fintech Fest saw some major developments that will enhance the utility of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Governor of RBI Shri Shaktikanta Das along with NPCI has introduced some new-age innovations which are in line with UPI ATM and RBI’s latest monetary policies which aim to create a robust digital payments ecosystem in India. RBI has infused UPI with conversational AI capabilities, meaning one can make UPI payments using their voice.
Hello UPI will allow UPI users to make payments by conversing with their smartphones. Whether splitting a restaurant bill, sending money to a friend, or settling utility bills, everything can be done with voice commands.
The official statement from NPCI read, “The introduction of conversational UPI payments will augment user experience by enabling them to make voice-enabled UPI payments via UPI apps, telecom calls, and IoT devices in Hindi and English, and will soon be available in several other regional languages.”
Read on to know more details.
UPI Payments Using Voice Commands Soon
For better reach and use of UPI, NPCI is using the potential of conversational AI to facilitate things. The feature will be known as ‘Hello UPI’ and it will allow payment-specific voice commands to complete hands-free UPI payments. Though it is a risk, but UPI PIN will also be able to be entered verbally.
These capabilities will deeply integrate with telecom calls as well as IoT devices and apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, Paytm, and home assistants like Alexa and Google. NPCI is using India’s own AI language model Project Bhashini which has been created by working closely with IIT Madras’ Nilekani Centre at AI4Bhrat to offer this service in Hindi and English at launch, with regional languages coming soon.
BillPay Connect
ALSO READ: 2023-2024 Flipkart Sales: Dates, Names, Offers, & More –Your Ultimate Flipkart Shopping Guide
ALSO READ: Tecno’s Chandrayan-inspired Spark 10 Pro Moon Explorer Edition launched in India
NPCI has also introduced a nationalized number called “BillPay Connect” via its Bharat BillPay app. This number can be used to pay bills and receive payment reports by sending a simple “Hi”. If you don’t have a smartphone, you just have to place a missed call to the number and it will trigger an automated callback that will verify your payment authorization.
One can also use the Voice Assisted Bill Payments facility of the Bharat BillPay app that will fetch and make hands-free bill payments using voice commands. Once successful, an audio confirmation for the same will be given to you. The same will be given to vendors while collecting payment using soundbox devices.
NPCI says, “Customers can fetch and pay bills through voice commands on their smart home devices and get instant voice confirmation. Moreover, instant voice confirmations will be enabled for bill payments made at physical collection centers through payment soundbox devices.”
Moreover, this is not all, some other noteworthy launches during the Global Fintech Fest 2023 include the ability to avail credit from banks via UPI, the launch of UPI Lite X for making and receiving offline payments, and the ability to Tap and Pay Using NFC enabled devices.
You can follow Smartprix on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Google News. Visit smartprix.com for the most recent news, reviews, and tech guides.
