RBI will give six new types of payment wallets, payment will be possible with voice and no internet

Shikha Chaurasia

Pune, January 8, 2021: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to improve the payment system further. For this, six Fintech companies have been selected by the RBI. The RBI is also going to provide live testing opportunities for the products of these companies.

Two of the six Fintech companies selected by the RBI have started testing from November 2020. Jaipur-based Natural Support Consultancy Services has started testing a product called eRupaya, which uses Near-Field Communication (NFC) based prepaid cards and Point of Sale (POS). The company has tied up with Punjab National Bank for this project. The focus of this company is to promote small digital shoppers and offline digital payments in rural areas. Through NFC, the company will provide the facility of payment without the internet. This prepaid card can be recharged up to Rs 2000 per day. At the same time, 20,000 rupees can be added to it in a month. This prepaid card can be recharged through the branch, ATM or customer officer of Punjab National Bank. Likewise, Delhi-based Nucleus Software Exports Ltd. has started testing its product Money.

Money will be an online and offline payment card. It will also use NFC technology. It will be like a digital mobile wallet that will work in online and offline modes

Four companies started testing in December

Among the four companies that started testing their product in December, Mumbai-based Smart Data Information Services Private Limited is one. This company is bringing a prepaid card called CityCash which also uses NFC technology. Customers can use this as a wallet for payment of bus tickets to select merchants. Fino PayTech is one of the investors funding this company.

The transaction will be done using your voice

Bangalore-based company Naffa Innovations Pvt. Ltd. is set to introduce a product with safe transactions using sound. The company is bringing a product called ToneTag that will use sound encrypt waves in online and offline payments. It can be used on any existing device including a feature phone. ToneTag is testing offline payments to merchants through UPI (Unified Payment Interface). To pay, customers must tap their phone on the ToneTag device. A sound wave is emitted that carries the data, which is received by the merchant’s equipment, and the payment is completed. It works just like NFC payments. The company holds several patents for the technology used.

Voice-based UPI payment service

Bengaluru-based company Ubona Technologies is testing a voice-based UPI service that can be used for person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-merchant (P2M) offline payments. Ubona has used UltraCash, a company that uses very high frequency and inaudible sound waves, for data transfer between two mobile devices.

A Noida company is also involved

Among the six companies that RBI has selected, one is Noida-based Eroute Technology. The company is testing a UPI-based offline mobile solution using a smartcard that has an embedded SIM.

The regulator will explore the benefits and risks of new financial products through pilot and field testing to find out the benefits and risks. This will help the regulator to implement the new norms quickly. After looking at the entire process, the regulator will decide which company is allowed to start the payment service and which is not.