During this week’s Global Fintech Fest, India’s leading payment organization, NPCI, rolled out a pair of innovative conversational payment platforms to improve ease-of-use and broaden reach for consumers.
The new feature, dubbed ‘Hello UPI,’ lets individuals carry out transactions just by speaking with their mobile devices. From dividing a meal tab to transferring funds to a friend or paying household bills, the application is designed for a wide range of uses.
NPCI clarified in a formal release, “This voice-driven approach to UPI transactions is set to elevate user satisfaction by allowing payments through a variety of mediums like specialized UPI apps, phone calls, and Internet of Things devices. The feature will initially support Hindi and English but is planned to expand to other regional dialects.”
For the linguistic capabilities of the service, NPCI joined forces with IIT Madras’ Bhashini programme and AI4Bharat initiative to develop the necessary language algorithms in Hindi and English.
NPCI also rolled out a second feature, named ‘Bharat BillPay Connect.’ This platform is designed to make paying bills a breeze via conversational methods. Users can command popular voice assistants such as Alexa to carry out the payments, or use a range of other devices like basic mobile phones and specialized payment terminals at retail locations. The aim is to democratize digital bill payments, catering to a diverse user base with different levels of technological expertise.
In a follow-up statement, NPCI pointed out, “Users will have the ability to inquire about and settle bills using voice commands on their connected home devices and receive immediate vocal confirmations. This instant vocal confirmation feature will be enabled for transactions carried out at in-person bill collection points via specialized payment terminals.”
