.png)
The Tata Group might soon step into the unified payments interface (UPI) ecosystem, currently dominated by the digital payment apps Google Pay, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and WhatsApp Pay, according to an Economic Times report.
The India-based multinational conglomerate is reportedly seeking clearance from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as it plans to start operating on the UPI as a third-party payments service provider. Sources also told ET that the Tatas, through their digital commerce unit Tata Digital, are in talks to partner with private lender ICICI Bank for powering its UPI infrastructure.
To provide UPI services, non-banking platforms such as Google Pay, and PhonePe make deals with banks. Moreover, to deal with large transaction volumes, UPI apps chose to partner with multiple banks to share the load.
For instance, Google Pay, one of the apps having a major market share in offering UPI services, works with the State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank. The other notable apps include PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and WhatsApp Pay.
UPI has seen its success as a key instrument in the ‘Digital India’ initiative, and the homegrown payment gateway has now gained success overseas also. Signing off the year at a record high, UPI recorded 456 Cr worth of transactions at INR 8.26 Lakh Cr ($111.2 Bn) in December 2021.