RBI proposes linking credit cards to UPI payments

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to allow the linking of credit cards to the UPI platform, Governor Das said on Wednesday as he announced a rate hike.

To begin with, the Rupay credit cards will be linked to the UPI platform, which will provide additional convenience to the users and enhance the scope of digital payments, Das said.

At present, UPI facilitates transactions by linking savings or current accounts through users' debit cards.

"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.

In May this year alone, around 594 crore amounting to Rs 10.4 lakh crore was processed through UPI, he said.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is a system that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood. It also caters to the “Peer to Peer” collect request which can be scheduled and paid as per requirement and convenience.