Credit cards, starting with RuPay, can now be linked to UPI: RBI

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday that credit cards starting with RuPay can now be linked to the united payments interface (UPI). He added that this will be aimed at providing additional convenience to users and enhancing the scope of digital payments. The Governor was announcing the decisions made by the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the central bank, which met from June 6 to June 8.  

"UPI has become the most inclusive mode of payment in India with over 26 crore unique users and five crore merchants on the platform. The progress of UPI in recent years has been unparalleled. Many other countries are engaged with us in adopting similar methods in their countries," RBI Governor Das said.

UPI has become the most inclusive mode of payment in India, with over 26 crore unique users and 5 crore merchants onboarded on the platform, he added.

In May, 594.63 crore transactions amounting to Rs 10.40 lakh crore were processed through UPI, Das said.

The interoperability of prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) has also facilitated access of PPIs to the UPI payment system for undertaking transactions, Das said.

Meanwhile, Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma hailed the RBI’s decision to allow linking of credit cards starting with RuPay to the united payments interface (UPI). Sharma wrote, “This is a game changer move by RBI. Also the beginning of MDR/Interchange of card networks starting to apply on mobile payments.”

Shares of Paytm are up 3 per cent to 639 apiece on the BSE. This, however, is not the only step taken by the central bank to encourage digital payments. He further said that the limit per transaction for e-mandate based recurring payments has been raised from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 in a bid to facilitate recurring payments like subscriptions, insurance premia and education fees of large value.  

During his statement, Das also talked about launching a payment infrastructure development fund (PIDF) scheme for incentivising digital payment infrastructure across the country. He said, “Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme which has been launched to incentivise deployment of digital payment infrastructure across the country has exceeded the target set and will now have enhanced subsidy amount and simple claim process."