How is UPI changing the payment landscape in India?
At Zithara, we’ve solved that unique problem. Merchants and customers are now comfortably and intuitively using UPI technology.
In April 2016, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched UPI in India. Since then, it has become the fastest-growing payment method in the country. For end-users, the process is simple and easy. Transactions require minimal details and a virtual address. UPI’s growth and adoption will ensure that it will have the largest pie of digital transactions over the next few years.
The success of UPI is so phenomenal that Google (India) drafted recommendations to the US Federal Reserve Board so that they could devise a comparative platform.
The UPI we have in India is unique for several reasons. It was conceptualized from scratch by NPCI, and the platform was left open-ended so that any technology company or bank can integrate it on their platform/app and enable their end-users to transact easily.
To be clear, UPI does not just facilitate payments. Depending upon how a given company customizes it, UPI can enable sharing of information in multiple levels.
Today, the number of UPI transactions in India runs in billions. In later versions of UPI, NPCI included features to support merchants with invoicing along with payments.
Although the use of UPI for merchants is fairly straightforward, they don’t have to stop at payment transactions. It’s possible for merchants to have a personal relationship with each and every customer who transacts via UPI.
At Zithara, we’ve solved that unique problem. Merchants and customers are now comfortably and intuitively using UPI technology. So, with no additional technology, registered merchants at Zithara (ZiMerchants) and their customers can perform the following actions:
1. Make a payment and Receive a payment
Customers can use the Zithara QR code to make a payment from their preferred UPI app.
2. Initiate a cashback to the customer
With Zithara’s QR code, the merchant can give a customized ZiCoin cashback based on the bill value of the customer.
ZiCoin is Zithara’s cash-replacement reward which enables customers to extend the value of their cash to buy additional products and services.
ZiMerchants have successfully encouraged their customers to spend more (with an effective increase of 40% in average bill value), and have seen twice the number of repeat purchases.
To register as a ZiMerchant, click here.