Heena Sharma Blog

  Taking a cue from its rival WhatsApp , the fast-growing encrypted messaging app Signal has announced to let users send money in cryptocurrency to friends and relatives, as it tests a new peer-to-peer payments system in the beta version of its app. Called Signal Payments, the new feature that is available in the UK first will currently support a privacy-focused payments network called Mobile Coin, which has its own currency, MOB. "As always, our goal is to keep your data in your hands rather than ours; Mobile Coin’s design means Signal does not have access to your balance, full transaction history, or funds," said Jun Harada, Signal's head of growth and communication. "You can also transfer your funds at any time if you want to switch to another app or service," he said in a statement late on Tuesday. The company said it aims payments in Signal to be fast, private, and work well on mobile devices. Read More

  Google Pay on Monday announced the rollout of tokenisation across its platform, enabling users with debit and credit cards to transact at NFC-enabled point-of-sale (POS) terminals and online merchants through its tap-to-pay feature. The feature is currently available for Axis and SBI card users on Visa payments network, and more banks, including Kotak are expected to follow soon. Through tokenisation, Android smartphone users with Google Pay can use their debit or credit card to make payments through a secure digital token attached to their phone without having to physically share their credit or debit card details. The feature also works with online merchants through one-time password (OTP), without any redirects to 3D Secure sites. To enable the tap and pay feature using the smartphone phone (Android), users will have to do a one-time set up by entering their card details and follow it by entering the OTP they get from the bank to add their card to the Google Pay app. Afte...

After YES Ban k was placed under moratorium, digital payments were impacted as PhonePe , which depends on the cash-strapped lender for its transactions, could not operate. It can be noted that the bank's own net banking facilities have not been operational since last evening. Other fintech operators who rely on YES Bank to settle their transactions are also down. We sincerely regret the long outage. Our partner bank (YES Bank) was placed under moratorium by RBI. Entire team's been working all night to get services back up asap (as soon as possible), the app's chief executive Sameer Nigam tweeted early in the morning. PhonePe, one of the country's largest digital payment platforms, is dependent on YES Bank to process its transactions. Read More

In a major development, WhatsApp will be able to roll out its digital payment platform, WhatsApp Pay , across India after securing a key regulatory approval on Thursday. “ The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has granted WhatsApp a licence to operate its digital payment service in a phased manner,” a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) executive told Business Standard on Friday. The official didn’t want to be quoted. The NPCI’s approval came days after the RBI’s go-ahead. WhatsApp has assured the regulators that it will comply with the data localisation norms – a key factor behind the delay of the WhatsApp’s payment service launch. In the first phase, WhatsApp will be able to offer payment services to 10 million users in India. “Pending other compliance points, the messaging platform will be able to do a full rollout,” the source said. Once the company is able to do a full rollout, it will possibly be one of the biggest payments players in the country, given that the...

Among UPI (unified payments interface) apps, Google Pay contributed 59 per cent and Walmart-owned PhonePe facilitated 26 per cent, followed by Paytm (7 per cent) and BHIM (6 per cent) in digital transactions in 2019, according to fintech firm Razorpay’s report ‘The Era of Rising Fintech.’ The report provides an in-depth study of a rapidly evolving fintech ecosystem in India and analyses the patterns of digital transactions and the impact of industry innovations, such as UPI, which are harnessing a digitally inclusive economy. In 2018, Google Pay contributed 48 per cent and BHIM facilitated 27 per cent in digital transaction, followed by PhonePe (15 per cent) and Paytm (4 per cent). Also, Amazon Pay was the most preferred wallet among consumers (33 per cent), followed by Ola Money (17 per cent) in 2019. While the usage of cards (46 per cent) and Net banking (11 per cent) saw a decline in 2019, down from 56 per cent and 23 per cent respectively in 2018, UPI (38 per cent) went up ...

The US Federal Reserve, or the Fed, should replicate India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) model for its proposed interbank real-time gross settlement (RTGS) service, Google has recommended. Launched in 2016, the UPI is the country’s flagship real-time payments system, which allows users to transfer money directly from their bank accounts. Since it works across multiple bank accounts, without revealing the details of one’s account to the other party, it makes paying someone as simple as handing over cash. It clocked 1.2 billion transactions in November, valued at Rs 1.89 trillion. Citing the UPI’s phenomenal success in India, Google, in a letter to the Fed, said FedNow should be an open system, like the UPI. “ We’ve been pretty vocal that we believe the right model for driving digital payments is through partnership between banks, governments and tech companies through open and standard-based infrastructures like UPI,” tweeted Caesar Sengupta, general manager & vice-pr...

Taking its digital payments platform to the next level, One97 Communications Limited, which owns the Paytm brand, is experimenting with facial recognition technology to unlock the payments application. This is expected to enhance the security of accounts, said source in the company privy to this development. To begin with, the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-owned company is testing the face login feature on its Android beta app, the person said. This will be an important security update for Paytm users that is designed to prevent phishing attacks by providing an additional security layer of biometric security, said a security expert. ALSO READ: Paytm's losses rise by almost 80% on the back of massive expansion plans The tool would also remove the complexity of resetting passwords to log in to accounts as there are instances when users accidentally share their account details with others and are mostly not comfortable with resetting their password. Reports have said that th...

Modi also stated the initiative has brought in a movement towards more digital payments Current Affairs News : Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday his Digital India flagship programme empowered citizens by eliminating middlemen' and promoted 4Es - Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Empowerment. "We launched Digital India with a very simple focus -- to ensure more people can benefit from the joys of technology, especially in rural areas," he said while interacting with beneficiaries of the flagship scheme across the country via the NaMo App. This was his fourth outreach with beneficiaries of government schemes through video conferencing. The event was streamed on social media site Facebook. He also stated the initiative has brought in a movement towards more digital payments, thereby eliminating the concept of middlemen. "Due to technology, railway tickets can be booked online, bills can be paid online... all this brings great con...