Google Pay, the Unified Prepaid Interface (UPI) payments app, unveiled new features at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2024. The company said that these new features, which will be rolled out later this year, will make it easier for users to make payments and transact through the app. Some of the features announced at the GFF include UPI Circle, UPI Vouchers or eRupi, Clickpay QR scan, Prepaid Utility payments, Tap & Pay with RuPay cards and more. Besides, the company also announced several partnerships at the event.
Google Pay unveils new features at GFF 2024
The UPI payment app has detailed the new features in a blog post and said that these functionalities will increase the ease of use and simplicity of interaction between users and payment and financial instruments.
UPI Circle is a new feature from NPCI that allows UPI account holders to let trusted individuals make digital payments even if they don’t have a bank account. This feature can be useful for elderly family members who don’t have a bank account or a Google Pay linked account, but still need to make a UPI payment.
These family members can be given a Partial Delegation privilege where the primary user has to approve every transaction or a Full Delegation privilege where they can get a monthly limit of up to Rs. 15,000. This feature is being launched in partnership with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
UPI Vouchers or eRupi, a direct benefit transfer (DBT) feature launched in 2021 and will soon be supported on Google Pay. The feature allows people to generate a prepaid voucher linked to a mobile number and can be used to make digital payments even if the user does not have a bank account linked to UPI. This feature is being brought to the platform in collaboration with NPCI and the Department of Financial Services.
Clickpay QR Scan is another new bill payment feature coming to Google Pay. It allows users to pay their bills on Google Pay by scanning a QR code within the app. These payments can only be made if the bill holder has generated a custom QR code for the customer. Once scanned, users will see the amount of the bill they need to pay, according to Google.
Google Pay will also let users create prepaid utility bills with a new feature. Similar to the feature in Paytm, the app will discover a user’s prepaid bills once they have added their customer details to the app. Once they do that, users will be able to make recurring payments to the account holders that support prepaid payments. The feature will work across categories. It is being added in partnership with NPCI Bharat Billpay.
Tap & Pay with RuPay Cards will also be added to Google Pay later this year. This will allow RuPay cardholders to add their RuPay card to the app and tap their Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled smartphone on a card machine to make payments. Notably, card details will not be stored in the app, the company said.
Finally, UPI Lite gets an autopay feature. Users can automatically top up their UPI Lite account when their balance falls below a certain amount.
