NPCI’s Tech Dose: Now, Pay Via FASTag To Charge EVs, Use Ring For Contactless Payments

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched an array of new products and struck a slew of fintech partnerships on the sidelines of the recently concluded Global Fintech Fest 2023. 

Encompassing the electric vehicle (EV) and digital payments domains, the NPCI has partnered with the Indian Highway Management Company Limited (IHMCL) to launch EV charging payments on the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) FASTag platform. 

The move will enable electric vehicle owners to access EV charging facilities on the lines of how they make contactless toll payments on the highways. 

“… This integration brings the benefits of contactless transactions, real-time monitoring, and secure payments to the EV charging ecosystem, fostering a seamless experience for users,” the NPCI said. 

During the three-day event, the payments body unveiled a clutch of products in partnership with fintech startups. 

In collaboration with fintech startup LivQuik, the NPCI has launched an ‘OTG Ring’, a contactless payment wearable ring. The Made in India product will allow users to make payments to any Near Field Communication (NFC)-based device and aims to replace plastic cards for various open-loop transit programs.

It also launched a prepaid gift card in partnership with the state-backed payments network RuPay as well as a separate personalised prepaid card in collaboration with Pepper Money and PineLabs. The NPCI also unveiled a prepaid card in collaboration with FamX, primarily targeted at Gen Zs.

The payments corporation also announced its partnership with forex services company Thomas Cook India to reportedly launch the country’s first RuPay prepaid forex card (Thomas Cook RuPay Card) for Indians travelling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Enabled by homegrown fintech startup CARD91, the pilot offering will gradually be rolled out globally in a phased manner.

In addition, the NPCI also unveiled its co-creation framework that will foster collaboration among various players within the digital payments ecosystem. 

“In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, innovation is the key to success. Therefore, the launch of the Co-Creation Framework will provide a structured and dynamic approach to fostering collaboration among partners and stakeholders, driving creativity and innovation to new heights,” it said in a statement.

The NPCI also launched a flurry of features on top of its unified payments interface (UPI) network. It showcased peer-to-peer money transfers on Amazon Alexa via voice commands at the fintech summit. The feature is expected to be rolled out to users soon. With this, users can ask Alexa to transfer money to their contacts and input PIN to process digital payments. 

Alongside, the payments corporation also formally launched the UPI-ATM, which entails an interoperable UPI QR-based cash withdrawal. Under this, any participating bank account holder can withdraw cash from a UPI-enabled ATM by using UPI app. 

Alongside, NPCI International Payments Limited (NPIL) also announced its agreement with cross-border payments solutions provider Paymentwall to enable Indian consumers to make ecommerce purchases with UPI in the US and the UK. Under this, all Paymentwall merchants will accept UPI in the US and UK and will expand the acceptance of the payments platform overseas. 

Another major highlight of the event was the launch of ‘UPI AutoPay on QR’ which will allow users to activate recurring payments by just scanning a QR code. 

This comes just a day after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das launched four new features on the UPI network, including conversational payments platform Hello! UPI and NFC-based offline payment offeringsUPI LITE X and UPI Tap & Pay.

The slew of launches are part of the NPCI’s bid to achieve 10,000 Cr monthly transactions and expand digital payments to all nooks and corners of the country. With UPI recently achieving the milestone of 1,000 Cr monthly transactions in August 2023, all eyes are now on how the payments network scales up going forward.