UPI123Pay Launched; Check how to make payments without Internet

The RBI has launched UPI123Pay for feature phone users. There will also be a 24x7 helpline for digital payments called DigiSaathi. Check how to use UPI123Pay to make online payments

UPI123 has been launched by the RBI. It will help all feature phone users in making digital transactions. Find out how to use this new service. (Nokia)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) have jointly launched a UPI functionality for feature phones called UPI123Pay today. This interface will work without internet and for feature phones (earlier generation mobile phones without smart features). This new initiative by RBI will help in increasing the digital transaction ecosystem of India by bringing in the rural population into thecashless fold. Along with this, a 24x7 helpline for digital payments called DigiSaathi has also been unveiled by the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The helpline will both help the customers in fluidly transacting using UPI123Pay as well as provide information on digital services and products to curb fraudulent activities. Read on to find out how to use UPI123Pay and the UPI123Pay features.

“Two landmark initiatives are being launched today that is UPI123Pay and DigiSaathi. These two represent two diverse yet significant dimensions of our payments ecosystem. In UPI123Pay, there are broadly three steps which will take a user to take to complete transactions. UPI123Pay is about empowering more people to get onboarded digital experience through feature phones. DigitSaathi is all about further enhancing trust in digital payment ecosystem," said the RBI Governor.

UPI123Pay Features

There are many UPI123Pay features but the most significant ones are as follows. The new interface launched by the RBI and NPCI works without the need for the internet. Further, it supports multiple vernacular languages making it easy for the rural population to use this service. Users can transact and send money to either a merchant or another user. The entire flow is divided into three steps of ‘call, choose and pay'.

"The launch of UPI123Pay makes the facilities under UPI now accessible to that section of society which was so far excluded from the digital payment landscape. In that way it is promoting financial inclusion in our economy," Das said.

Using the app is also very simple. Just follow these steps to know how to use UPI123Pay.

How to use UPI123Pay

Step 1:

First, the user would need to link their bank account with UPI123Pay. 

Step 2:

Next, the user has to set a UPI PIN using their debit or credit card.

Step 3:

Once that is done, a user can take their feature phone and call the IVR number and select the service ranging from money transfer, electricity bill, LPG bill etc.

Step 4:

To transfer money, first the user needs to select the service, then add the phone number of the person to whom the money is to be transferred, followed by the amount and the PIN.

Step 5:

To make a payment to a merchant, the user can choose between two methods. First is to use the app and second is to pay using a missed call. 

Step 6:

There is also a voice method to make the digital transactions quickly.