Customer awareness and engagement for UPI LITE Enablement and Top-up

 

Introducing UPI LITE: Fast, Secure, Seamless Transactions

UPI LITE is a novel payment solution utilizing NPCI Common Library (CL) for low-value transactions under ₹500. It simplifies the process within the existing UPI ecosystem, providing a customer-friendly approach for hassle-free transactions without impacting the bank's core systems.

Benefits of UPI LITE:

- Improved UPI transaction success

- Reduced load on Remitter Bank CBS

- Simplified passbook

- Single-factor authentication for sub-₹500 UPI transactions

There is immense scope for UPI Lite, a few steps from the ecosystem participants may encourage bank account holders to adopt UPI LITE.

To encourage the adoption process of UPI LITE, NPCI circular released on 2^nd November 2023.

 

 

NPCI vide its Cir No. NPCI/UPI/OC No.179/2023-24 dt.2nd November 2023 addressed to All UPI Members informed about Customer Awareness and Engagement for UPI LITE Enablement and Top-up

 

Previous References:

NPCI circulars NPCI/UPI/OC No.138/2021-22 dated 16th March 2022 and NPCI/UPI/OC No.169/2023-24 dated 31st August 2023 regarding UPI LITE. These circulars introduced guidelines to facilitate UPI LITE small value transactions.

 

The aim of UPI LITE is to streamline transactions, eliminating the need for extensive infrastructure scaling at banks and enhancing success rates.

UPI Apps have been advised to take the following actions to boost UPI LITE adoption:

1) Promote UPI LITE to customers who haven't enabled it by highlighting its faster checkout experience.

2) Include UPI LITE enablement during new UPI customer onboarding with user consent.

3) Make UPI LITE the default choice for transactions below ₹500 after enablement.

4) Send top-up notifications if UPI LITE balance falls below ₹200, through pop-ups and notifications.

5) Implement necessary UI/UX changes for displaying notifications and pop-ups.

6) Place a banner on the homepage to enable UPI LITE.

 

All UPI Apps offering UPI LITE services must comply with these actions by 21st November 2023.

 

Introducing UPI LITE, a fast, secure, and seamless payment solution that leverages NPCI Common Library (CL) to process low-value transactions under ₹500.

UPI LITE streamlines the process within the existing UPI ecosystem, ensuring commonality, compliance, and system acceptance.

It offers a customer-friendly approach to low-value transactions, eliminating the need to access a bank's core banking systems in real-time while maintaining robust risk mitigation.

 

Enablement Flow:

To enable UPI LITE, follow these steps:

1. Open your UPI App.

2. Choose the UPI LITE option on the home screen.

3. Accept the terms & conditions.

4. Add funds and select your bank account.

5. Enter your UPI PIN.

6. UPI LITE is now successfully enabled.

 

Transaction Flow:

For seamless transactions using UPI LITE:

1. Open the app.

2. Choose to pay.

3. Enter the amount.

4. No UPI PIN required.

5. Money is sent successfully.

 

Benefits of UPI LITE:

- Improved success rate for UPI transactions.

- Reduced infrastructure load on Remitter Bank CBS.

- An uncluttered passbook for users.

- One-click single-factor authentication for UPI transactions valued below ₹500.

 

Uplift your payment experience with UPI LITE, a user-friendly solution that doesn't rely on a bank's core banking systems in real-time, offering secure and efficient transactions.

With your consent, your Issuing bank can create an escrow on your account up to a set limit, residing in the common library (CL) of your UPI app.

This stored value can be utilized for low-value payments without accessing the core banking infrastructure.

 

UPI LITE allows a 'stored value' balance limit of ₹2,000, which can be used for individual transactions below ₹500, and you can refill it from your linked bank account.

 Refill operations require online mode with additional factor authentication (AFA) or UPI AutoPay.

 

For offline transactions, UPI LITE supports debit payments, while credits are processed online.

Most UPI merchant transactions use static or dynamic QR codes, following RBI recommendations for person-to-person, person-to-merchant, and small merchant transactions (P2P, P2M, and P2PM) for Pay, Scan QR, Share QR, and Intent-based transactions.

 

Key transaction and usage parameters:

- UPI LITE account setup on your mobile

- Download the UPI LITE app from the play/app store.

- Accept terms and conditions for registration.

- Create an account by selecting your UPI-linked bank account and making an initial store value of ₹2,000 (maximum limit).

- Authenticate the transaction with your UPI PIN.

- Your UPI LITE account is ready to use after PIN verification.

- Please note that the UPI LITE service won't work on 'jailbroken' devices.

- ₹500 maximum limit per transaction.

- ₹2,000 maximum store value limit in the wallet.

- Cumulative maximum of ₹4,000.

 

How many UPI LITE (On-Device wallet) instances are permissible for a single bank account?

- A unique UPI LITE (On-Device wallet) is established within a specific app.

- The same bank account can be used to create multiple UPI LITE (On-Device wallet) instances in other apps.

- However, at any given time, only one UPI LITE (On-Device wallet) offered by a particular bank can be enabled within a UPI App, with the balance residing in the Common Library (CL).

 

Currently, the following banks and apps support UPI LITE:

 

**Banks Live:**

1. AU Small Finance Bank

2. Axis Bank Ltd

3. Bank of Baroda

4. Bank of India

5. Canara Bank

6. Central Bank of India

7. Equitas Small Finance Bank

8. Federal Bank

9. Fincare Small Finance Bank Ltd

10. HDFC Bank

11. ICICI Bank

12. Indian Bank

13. Indian Overseas Bank

14. Karnataka Bank

15. Kotak Mahindra Bank

16. Paytm Payments Bank

17. Punjab and Sind Bank

18. Punjab National Bank

19. Saraswat Bank

20. State Bank Of India

21. Tamilnad Mercantile Bank

22. UCO Bank

23. Union Bank of India

24. Utkarsh Small Finance Bank

 

**Apps Live: **

- BHIM

- Paytm

- PhonePe

- GPay

- Cent UPI (CBI)

 

Please note that UPI LITE instances can be created on different apps, but only one UPI LITE (On-Device wallet) from a specific bank can be enabled within a UPI App at any given time.

 

NPCI has highlighted about two significant circulars issued by NPCI: NPCI/UPI/OC No.138/2021-22, dated 16th March 2022, titled "Introduction of 'On-Device Wallet' - UPI LITE for Small Value Transactions," and NPCI/UPI/OC No.169/2023-24, dated 31st August 2023, focusing on "Enhancement in UPI LITE Transaction Limit to ₹500."

 

These circulars introduced operational guidelines for UPI LITE small value transactions.

 

The primary objective of introducing UPI LITE was to address the increasing demand for handling UPI small value transactions without the need for substantial infrastructure expansion at the bank's end.

UPI LITE offers a swift and seamless experience by eliminating the requirement for a UPI PIN to complete transactions. Moreover, it reduces the reliance on issuer infrastructure, thereby improving transaction success rates.

 

To further enhance the customer experience and foster the adoption of UPI LITE, UPI Apps are expected to undertake the following actions:

 

1) For customers who have not yet enabled UPI LITE, UPI apps must create awareness by emphasizing the faster checkout experience it offers. UPI Apps should send a pop-up/notification with a call to action to enable UPI LITE when a customer initiates a UPI transaction with a PIN below ₹500. This notification will be sent after the UPI transaction, ensuring there is no disruption to the customer's experience.

 

2) During the onboarding of new UPI customers, UPI apps should define a journey for enabling UPI LITE, with the user's consent.

 

3) Following UPI LITE enablement, it should be set as the default instrument for transactions with a value below ₹500.

 

4) UPI Apps should send top-up notifications/pop-ups with a call to action if the UPI LITE balance falls below ₹200. These notifications should be delivered in the following ways:

   a) Pop-up/notification when the user opens the app and the UPI LITE balance is below ₹200.

   b) After a UPI transaction, if the UPI LITE wallet balance is below ₹200, a pop-up/notification should be presented to the customer.

 

5) UPI Apps should make the necessary user interface/user experience (UI/UX) changes to effectively display these notifications and pop-ups.

 

6) UPI Apps are required to include a banner on their homepage to facilitate the enablement of UPI LITE.

 

All UPI Apps that offer UPI LITE services must implement and comply with these actions by 21st November 2023. This will contribute to a smoother and more efficient UPI experience for both existing and new customers.

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The UPI LITE is a great tool for safe ePayments in our country.

I'm here to share the joy of Safe ePayments, these are my opinions, nothing more, nothing less.