UPI Tap and Pay: Good news for UPI users. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a new feature called “UPI Tap and Pay” to simplify digital payments. This feature allows users to make payments at NFC-enabled point-of-sale (POS) machines by tapping their NFC-enabled smartphones on the terminal without needing an active internet connection on their phone.

RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced this feature on September 10, along with another feature aimed at enhancing digital payments and customer support. It is important to note that while “UPI Tap and Pay” does not require mobile internet access on the user’s phone, it does rely on the POS machine’s internet connection for processing transactions.

The new feature works similarly to contactless card payments, where users with NFC-enabled smartphones can tap their device on a compatible POS terminal to make payments using the terminal’s internet connection. This feature supports various UPI-linked accounts, including UPI-linked RuPay credit cards.

For transactions below Rs 5,000, users can make payments without entering a UPI PIN. However, for transactions exceeding Rs 5,000, the UPI PIN will be required at the POS terminal. This feature aims to simplify UPI payments at physical stores, especially for users without mobile data access during payment.

In addition to “Tap and Pay,” the RBI has launched MyUPI, an AI-powered customer support platform created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). MyUPI, based on NPCI’s FiMI Small Language Model, serves as a unified platform for managing UPI transactions and AutoPay details across different banks and UPI apps. It offers features like Safety Switch, UPI Number Delink, additional beneficiary information, automated chargeback processing, and Transaction Replay.

These new features reflect a shift in focus from merely enabling digital payments to streamlining payments on physical terminals, enhancing customer support, and empowering users with more account control. NPCI intends for MyUPI to function as both a customer service tool and a security layer, offering round-the-clock support and self-service options in multiple languages.

These advancements align with NPCI’s goal to simplify UPI authentication. Biometric authentication for UPI was introduced in GFF 2025, and NPCI projects that biometrically authenticated UPI transactions will surpass 6.29 billion by August 31, 2026.
The launch of ‘Tap and Pay’ and MyUPI signals a new chapter for UPI, emphasizing not only processing payments but also making them more user-friendly, secure, and manageable.