India Launches Unified Payment Interface API | Hacker News Reader

India Launches Unified Payment Interface API

npci.org.in

102 pointssubinsebastien17 comments

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This is so 90's :) http://www.npci.org.in/images/newnpci.gif

ROFL

Many (if not most) government websites have "NEW!!" flashing GIFs all over the place.

There are a lot of retro gems there, including "Site Best Viewed in 1366 x 768 Resolution".

I had quite a bit of travel/business contact with Indian websites and saw a lot like that, seems to be the standard.

I think the best bit is, Site Best Viewed in 1366 x 768 Resolution

A good overview of how it would work: http://yourstory.com/2016/02/mobile-wallets-upi/

I'm very curious as how it would now play out for 'digital wallets' like Paytm, MobiKwick, PayUMoney etc.

Paytm is a "Unicorn". It is perhaps valued at $2B with 125 Million users. http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/paytm-val...

How do these guys make money (or plan to) ? I know PayTM is trying to be a market place but I'm wondering if there are other ways they make money.

One straight forward (and older) way is to charge commission from the retailers.

The digital wallets in India started with recharging balance for prepaid mobiles. When somebody recharges, Paytm and its ilk charges commission in the range of 2-5% from the Telcos.

Quick introduction to Unified Payment Interface: https://www.facebook.com/cnbctv18india/videos/10244978642542...

About NCPI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Payments_Corporation_...

This is more like "a company in India launches", not "India itself launches".

"Bank consortium in India", including the Indian central bank and nationalised clearing bank. So very definitely a public-private joint venture.

Either way, this venture has high significance, because, the RBI imposed restrictions were severely hampering the usability of online payments, for both the consumers as well as sellers in India.

We (Razorpay) recently did a webinar[0] on UPI, along with a corresponding blog post[1]. We also have an FAQ[1] up on the same.

A lot depends on how many customers adopt UPI and how well the banks implement it. If they respect what all NPCI has said, UPI could change a lot of things (affect wallets, improve transparency, cashless economy etc). However, a lot is hanging on few points:

1. How well do banks implement UPI?

2. Does NPCI open up UPI to more players? If yes, when and who? Wallets are the one that are most interested in this. [3]

3. Do they improve on UPI over time? As of now, UPI is missing a lot of its (promised) teeth. For eg: recurring payments, pre-authorized payments, split payments.

If anyone is interested on knowing more, I could probably answer a few questions here :)

[0]: https://youtu.be/0Yyxor0VYsE

[1]: https://razorpay.com/blog/what-is-upi/

[2]: https://razorpay.com/upi/

[3]: http://www.livemint.com/Companies/ZSGu2hTgSn21bKzvY8hycI/Pay...

It would be really cool, if somebody comes up with a tutorial.

Lol no one's getting access

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