UPI payments

UPI is an acronym for an Indian payment method. It stands for Unified Payments Interface. It’s one of the more recent additions to the payments landscape but provides an innovative and useful service. Formed in 2016, it’s the brainchild of the National Payments Corporation of India, which is a company under the operation of the Bank of India. It essentially decided to try and remove barriers between different payment providers and allow Indian users the opportunity to put all of their payment methods into a single place.

As is the case with the majority of modern innovations it uses an app to provide this service. In another expected development the app is available to be used on mobile devices. UPI has a number of benefits and drawbacks associated with it. We’ve gone into detail about everything that you need to know when using UPI as a payment method.

Reading time: 4 minutes.

Best online casinos

Royal Panda casino

2000 INR bonus +10 free spins

Casino Days

11000 INR bonus

Yeti casino

2000 INR bonus + 10 free spins

Europa casino

2400 INR bonus

How to use UPI to make a Payment

Using UPI as a payment method is a very simple process for Indian users. The basic premise is that users will first need to link their payment methods to the UPI app. Once this has been done then it will be available for them to start making payments.

The first step that needs to be carried out is to make sure the vendor accepts UPI as a payment method. As long as the vendor is located within India then there is a good chance that it will be accepted. UPI is a predominantly Indian service though, so if you are using an online service that’s not located within India, it might not be accepted.

Once you have found out if UPI can be used all you need to do is follow the instructions that the vendor and app provide to you. It’s a very simple process that allows you to make a payment quickly and easily. Payments that are made from banks tend to take slightly longer than e-wallet transactions. However, bank payments are still made very quickly.

What can you use UPI for?

There are a lot of different vendors available for users of UPI. It can be used to pay for goods at brick and mortar stores as well as with online retailers. Because there are a large proportion of banks and e-wallets available through the app it’s also available to a vast proportion of the Indian population.

It can also be used to make deposits and withdrawals at online casinos. All players need to do is check that it’s an accepted payment method when signing up. As long as the casino is located within Indian borders then it’s likely that UPI will be accepted for making payments.

Advantages of UPI

There are a number of different advantages when it comes to using UPI. Firstly, it’s extremely simple to use. UPI allows access to a massive range of different payment methods all in the single app. So, by using this app it means customers don’t have to carry around a lot of different cards and passwords when shopping. They can just use one app with one login. It certainly speeds up the process of shopping significantly.

Secondly, it works very quickly. When making a payment or a deposit, it is carried out instantly. Part of this is because it uses the marker system that banks use when customers purchase something. This ensures that customers won’t go over their limit when purchasing things. This means that it can easily be used by those who like to budget closely.

Finally, it has excellent security precautions in place. This helps to keep Indian users safe when they are purchasing items either in shops or online. It’s vitally important especially as a number of different payment methods can be attached which could encompass multiple bank accounts.

Disadvantages of UPI

The main disadvantage to UPI is that withdrawals are not fast. In fact, if you make a withdrawal with UPI to a bank account then this can take as long as 5 working days to be carried out. With deposits being carried out at a fast rate it is slightly disappointing that withdrawals take so long. It means that anyone who wants fast access to their money isn’t able to. As the technology improves this could become a possibility, but at the moment it is a clear disadvantage.

The other disadvantage stems from using UPI at websites that are located outside of India. Because it’s a mainly Indian operation, it isn’t widely accepted by non-Indian sites at the moment. This does mean that users don’t have the ability to use all sites that are not within the Indian border. There is a light at the end of the tunnel for this issue though. More countries are allowing access to UPI, with Singapore currently working on a deal to allow it in the country. It does mean that in the future, UPI could end up being widespread across the globe, removing this disadvantage for Indian users.