AI-powered conversational payments to launch on India’s UPI
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to introduce conversational payments to the country’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
RBI to launch conversational payments on UPI
The central bank has confirmed its intention to deliver a system that, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), can “initiate and complete transactions in a safe and secure environment” through voice commands given by the user.
The system is to be made available to the 300 million active users of India’s UPI, an instant payment system launched by the National Payments Corporation of India in 2016, which the RBI says has “transformed the digital payment ecosystem in India”.
Able to facilitate both C2C and C2B transactions, the addition of conversational payments to the system is anticipated to further the penetration of financial services in India. It will initially be available in Hindi and English, with more Indian languages expected to be added in the future.
The RBI says the technology holds “immense potential in enhancing ease of use, and consequently reach, of the UPI system”, while its exploration of conversational payments is in active recognition of AI’s rising prominence within the industry.
The central bank is also looking at the external capabilities of UPI having linked it with the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s digital payment system, PayNow, in February to better facilitate cross-border payments between the two countries.
