The UPI Juggernaut

As the UPI juggernaut rolls on, the six-year-old real-time payments system is set to disrupt big-ticket credit card, debit card and remittance payment ecosystems, and even the cash in the system

- Anand Adhikari

THIRTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Sunil Vitkar’s vegetable cart in a Mumbai suburb has two QR (Quick Response) code stickers—Paytm and PhonePe—printed on white paper. They are randomly placed for scanning in the midst of a scattering of potatoes and onions. Even in a noisy market, his ears are alert to the Paytm sound box near his galla (cash box), which frequently plays the “payment received” voice notification. At times, customers also flash their mobile screens with the now-very-familiar ‘payment successful’ message. The sound box, which saves him from customers showing fake confirmation receipts, costs a monthly rent of ₹125. But Vitkar doesn’t mind the expense.

The QR code, which uses the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) technology, allows money transfers in seconds to Vitkar’s bank account. UPI enables seamless money transfers between different banks and payment networks. Today, 80 per cent of Vitkar’s daily sales happens through QR codes. He also makes payments via UPI at the mandi, or wholesale market, where he picks up his wares. And they don’t mind it either. Vitkar quips, “Ab to bank wallo ke bhi phone call aate hain loan ke liye (nowadays, banks have also started calling me to offer loans).”

Today, millions of merchants are using UPI for their payments. It’s inconceivable to see a