73. UPI Lite
“what goes around comes around…”
UPI is one of the reasons for the decline of wallets… And now… UPI has its own wallet.
Why?
- Almost 50% of UPI transactions are less than Rs.200
- UPI transactions have reached millions per day and the idea is to reach a billion transactions per day — This level of scale will put huge stress on the banking infra
So… what is the solution?
Answer: Create a wallet aka UPI Lite
Features:
Benefits:
UPI Lite is a great solution for doing payments at local stores (P2PM category).
Most of the transactions are less than Rs.200. Plus the user doesn’t have to see hundreds of entries in the bank account statement (unless you like to account for where you spend money)
In the online space there are only a handful of sectors where the majority of transactions are less than Rs.200. To name a few: Gaming, mobile Recharge, quick commerce (to some extent)
For now, UPI Lite is not supported for online merchants (P2M).
Once done, UPI Lite will solve few of the problems related to SRT, scalability and availability.
Difference between UPI Lite and Digital/mobile wallets
I know you would ask this… so here you go.
Oh.. I totally forgot… there won’t be any MDR on UPI Lite.
At present, UPI Lite is available only on BHIM UPI and supported by SBI, UBI, Utkarsh SFB, Canara, HDFC, Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra and PNB.
UPI Lite Illustration:
I wanted to try UPI Lite… Trying UPI lite was not only exciting (yes, I enjoy payment flows) but also nostalgic.
I was one the early users of BHIM App and then deleted it. To check the flow I downloaded it after 4–5 years and for a moment, I felt that I was back in 2017… Thank you BHIM UPI :)
Here are the screenshots:
Journey of UPI Lite:
Payment solutions evolve… one step at a time… it starts with a vision, a pilot and change in existing regulation/guidelines… then the journey begins and then a few more circulars/guidelines… product evolves… and goes on and on
UPI also went through that journey… and eventually the entire ecosystem — regulator, TPAPs, Banks, GOI, merchants and users, made it a success story.
UPI Lite just started its journey… At present, UPI Lite is available on BHIM App and the real action will begin when leading TPAPs (PhonePe, G Pay, PayTM etc.) enable it.
This turned out to be a very ‘lite’ article… :)
