PhonePay allows customers to activate UPI with Aadhar: How will it benefit?

Deep Agarwal, Head of Payments, PhonePe, said, “We are excited to be the first fintech platform to offer Aadhar based authentication for our users, making the UPI onboarding flows even more simple and inclusive. We believe this is a very progressive move by RBI, NPCI and UIDAI and is a great example of the digital financial inclusion that UIDAI’s Aadhaar program has been able to drive.”

According to Agarwal, the new onboarding process using the Aadhar will help expand the overall UPI ecosystem, and also onboard new customers to the digital payments fold. “UPI has become a global example, and countries across the world are looking to implement it. Going forward, we are closely working with NPCI to take UPI international,” adds Agarwal.

Earlier, in the UPI onboarding flow, it was mandatory to provide a debit card to set up a user’s UPI PIN for the registration process. This restricted access to people who did not have their debit car ready with them. Now, the Aadhar based e-KYC flow has simplified the onboarding process of registration.

PhonePay users can choose the Aadhar card option on the PhonePe app for the onboarding process and they will need to enter the last six digits of their Aadhaar to start the onboarding process. These users would receive an OTP from UIDAI and their respective bank to complete the authentication steps.

“The addition of Aadhaar onboarding for UPI will do away with this restriction, and allow previously under-served populations to experience the convenience and benefits of digital payments,” stated the company in a statement.