Razorpay Joins Paytm, Launches ‘Turbo UPI’ For One-Step Payment To Online Merchants

Days after the launch of UPI SDK by Paytm, fintech unicorn Razorpay on Tuesday (May 30) announced the launch of ‘Turbo UPI’, a one-step payment solution for the UPI network.

Razorpay said the service would allow users to make payments without being redirected to a third-party app during checkout. The fintech startup launched the service in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Axis Bank. 

It must be noted that last week, Paytm launched its UPI SDK (Software Development Kit) to allow customers to make UPI payments from within the app of online merchants without redirecting them to the Paytm app

In a statement, Razorpay claimed that Turbo UPI would deliver a faster payment experience by eliminating redirection to other payment apps. The fintech unicorn further claimed that businesses could see up to a 10% increase in the success rate of UPI payments on their platforms.

“Turbo UPI also offers granular insights into the end-users drop-off pattern and enables merchants to control the entire payment experience of their customers, end-to-end,” the statement said. 

Explaining the rationale behind the new service, Razorpay said that while UPI is set to dominate as the preferred digital payment method, businesses are looking to reduce reliance on third-party apps and address the lack of visibility into their customer drop-offs during the payment process.

Turbo UPI has been integrated with apps and platforms like grocery delivery platform Tata StarQuik, online travel aggregators ixigo and Trainman, gifts and flowers platform Ferns N Petals, and stock trading platform Dhan, among others.

Commenting on the launch, Shashank Kumar, cofounder and MD at Razorpay, said, “We wanted to build a solution that not only made the end-users’ UPI payment experience fast & frictionless but will also help businesses with a significant increase in success rate by 10% for UPI transactions, empowering businesses with higher revenue potential in the evolving digital landscape,” 

Kumar added that a one-step solution reduces the scope of non-technical errors that can lead to drop-offs and boost UPI transactions.

Indian Fintechs & Their Love For UPI

According to NPCI data, the number of UPI transactions reached a record high in April 2023, rising 2.45% to 889.81 Cr from 868.53 Cr in March. 

The NPCI has set an ambitious target of achieving 1 Bn daily UPI transactions. A typical day in April 2023 saw about 296.60 Mn transactions, close to 30% of the intended goal.

Because of the huge potential for an increase in UPI payments, fintech platforms have been leveraging the instant payment system to come up with new offerings.

Last year, CRED also launched its UPI service and has grabbed a small share in UPI payments. In April 2023, CRED processed 4.57 Cr transactions (0.5% of the total transaction count) worth INR 20,729 Cr (1.5% of the total transaction value).

The Kunal Shah-led fintech unicorn also launched peer-to-peer (P2P) UPI payments on its platform in April. 

Overall, PhonePe, Google Pay and Paytm accounted for nearly 97% of all UPI transactions in April 2023, processing 862.54 Cr between them.

Earlier this month, PhonePe joined Paytm in offering UPI Lite – the no-PIN payments feature for transactions under INR 200. Besides, as the Walmart-owned payments giant started offering cross-border UPI payments earlier this year, Paytm, too, announced plans to go international earlier this month.