What is a UPI ATM? How to use the Voice-based UPI payments?

UPI ATM: In conjunction with the National Payments Corporation of India, Hitachi Payment Services launched India's first UPI ATM. This unique technology, which was introduced on September 5th at the Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, enables customers to make secure cardless cash withdrawals.

What exactly is it? : UPI, or Unified Payments Interface, is an NPCI-operated internet platform that allows for the immediate transfer of funds between bank accounts. The UPI-ATM is a white-label ATM that allows cardless cash withdrawals. Customers of participating banks can withdraw cash without the need for an ATM or debit card. White-label ATMs are those owned and operated by non-bank organizations.

How to:

Click on UPI Cardless Cash.
Choose or input your required amount.
Scan the QR code that appears using any UPI app.
From the bank account of your liking, provide the UPI PIN on your phone after confirming the transaction.

The UPI-ATM provides the same ease as cardless cash withdrawals offered by various institutions. Cardless cash withdrawals use mobile and OTP, whereas UPI-ATMs use QR codes for cash withdrawals, according to Sumil Vikamsey, general director of cash business at Hitachi Payment Services, a Hitachi subsidiary.

Features- Collect your cash when the transaction is completed. It offers a cardless transaction option that is interoperable. The withdrawal limit per transaction is Rs 10,000. This will be part of the existing daily UPI limit, as well as the limit imposed by the issuer bank for UPI-ATM transactions. There is no need to carry a card for ATM cash withdrawals, and the UPI app may be used to withdraw funds from numerous accounts.

Hello- UPI: In the near future, you'll have the option to perform Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions using your voice, rather than typing out commands. This exciting development was unveiled by Shaktikanta Das, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), at the Global Fintech Fest 2023.

This invention, known as "Hello-UPI — Conversational Payments on UPI," would allow users to make voice-activated UPI payments via UPI applications, phone calls, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. You'll no longer need to manually enter instructions to complete a UPI transaction; instead, you will be able to interact with the AI-powered solution to complete your payments. The ability to make transactions will be offered in two ways: through voice call (on-call) and within any UPI app (in-app), as mentioned in the NPCI whitepaper 'Conversational Payments on UPI: Unlocking New Frontiers for Next-generation Payments'. When using the on-call option, you will contact a specific number and follow the interactive voice response (IVR) instructions to complete your payment. Alternatively, with the in-app function, you can use voice commands on any UPI app to execute a transaction. The device will intelligently interpret your verbal requests and respond accordingly.

Simply issue voice instructions for financial transfers and input your UPI PIN to complete a transaction. The whitepaper underlines that NPCI intends to redefine inclusive payments with this solution, which uses the UPI architecture and incorporates technologies such as generative AI, machine learning, and natural language processing (NLP).

Here's how the process unfolds :

Users issue voice commands.
Automatic speech recognition converts these voice commands into text.
The voice input is translated into English to capture the user's intent, using machine translation.
The system verifies the user's intent.
After successful verification, the voice output is relayed to the user.

For example, if a user wishes to check their account balance, they can issue a command such as 'inquiring balance of my account.' The AI determines the user's purpose by evaluating terms like "balance" and "inquiry." It compares this to backend data and executes an algorithm to fulfil the request. After successfully retrieving the user's account balance, the solution refines its algorithm. According to the NPCI, with each iteration, the AI autonomously increases its capacity in order to meet customer requests. Conversational payments on UPI are now accessible in Hindi and English, with ambitions to extend to more regional languages. According to the press release, NPCI worked with the Bhashini program - AI4 Bharat at IIT Madras to build Hindi and English payment language models.

UPI conversational payments do not require a smartphone or an Internet connection. People living in remote regions can use their feature phones to access these capabilities. According to NPCI, these new UPI capabilities are intended to bring millions of users who are hampered by a lack of cell phones, Internet access, and inadequate digital literacy into the fold of digital payments.

In Conclusion:

"These solutions, along with others, aim to bridge the digital payments gap for 114 million bottom-of-the-pyramid households in India." These users are mostly from rural or peri-urban regions and earn less than Rs 100,000 a year, according to the NPCI. These product releases align with the RBI's recent monetary policy announcement and seek to promote a more welcoming, flexible, and long-lasting digital payments environment. These developments are intended to help the UPI achieve its target of 100 billion transactions per month.