National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has introduced UPI Lite in India at Global Fintech Fest 2022, in Mumbai a few days back. UPI Lite comes as a trim-down version of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) that ‘s aimed at easing the low-valued payments between two bank accounts through the BHIM app. Let’s learn how low-valued the transactions must be, how’s UPI Lite different from the regular UPI, and everything else you need to know about this new digital payment system here.
UPI Lite is an on-device wallet service provided by select banks that allow low-value transactions up to ₹200 through the BHIM app. Let’s see how it works.
UPI Lite works with current UPI IDs that you may already have. Note that it works with only one UPI ID only though.
You can transact up to ₹200 and you can save (debit) up to ₹2000 on your phone (within the BHIM app). So, that’s the transaction limit and UPI Lite Balance you should be aware of.
Interestingly so, you don’t need a UPI pin to do a UPI Lite transaction, but you will have to enter the passcode of the BHIM app to access the app in the first place.
Also, with UPI Lite, not even an internet connection is required to send money to the other party. Although you would internet to credit money to your device and the other person should also have the internet to receive the amount that you sent.
NPCI notes that while adding funds to the UPI Lite Balance, you will have to set an Additional Factor of Authentication (AFA).
Rest to transact, you can either scan a QR code of the merchant/receiver or do it through mobile number or VPA ID of the other person/party like you do in case of the regular UPI.
When the amount of transaction is less than ₹200, the UPI app (BHIM in this case) automatically switches to UPI Lite mode.
A. Here’s how you can activate UPI Lite:
A. UPI Lite is supported by banks like HDFC Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Canara Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Indian Bank, Union Bank of India, and Utkarsh Small Finance Bank.
"Any disputes pertaining to enablement, top up or disablement of UPI Lite shall be referred to and handled by issuing bank," as per the NPCI website.
A. No, UPI Lite transactions don’t appear on the bank statement or passbook. Only the the funds you top up to the UPI Lite Balance would be reflected in the passbook.
Fret not, you will get a daily account statement or history of all UPI Lite transactions done during the day through SMS on your registered mobile number.
A. As of writing this, UPI Lite is exclusively available on BHIM app. You can download the BHIM app on Android and iOS through Google Play Store and Apple App Store respectively.
A. In case you decide to deactivate UPI Lite account, the remaining fund in your UPI Lite Balance will be credited back to your bank account.
A. You can carry out unlimited UPI Lite transactions in a day but the maximum amount you can sent at a a time is ₹200 only.
A. No, there is no interest will be payable on the UPI Lite Balance.
A. No, RBI or NPCI doesn’t receive your money. Rather, it’s all held and handled by your issuing bank.
A. At the moment, UPI Lite is said to be free of cost.
A. UPI Lite lets you do small-change transactions up to ₹200 without worrying about loose cash
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