Latest news with #PSPs
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
UPI to get faster from today; Daily caps on usage roll out from July 31
India's flagship digital payments system, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), is set to become faster and more efficient from today, June 16. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has announced key changes to UPI's backend operations that will reduce API response times and introduce daily caps on certain functions starting July 31. In a circular dated April 26, NPCI said the response time for crucial UPI APIs such as 'Check Transaction Status' and 'Transaction Reversal' has been slashed from 30 seconds to 10 seconds. The turnaround time for the 'Validate Address' API, which is critical for 'Pay' and 'Collect' operations, has also been reduced to 10 seconds from the earlier 15 seconds. Enhanced backend performance for PSPs and banks The reduced response windows apply to remitter banks, beneficiary banks, and major Payment Service Providers (PSPs), with the goal of streamlining high-volume transaction flows, especially during peak hours. 'The aforementioned revisions are intended to improve the customer experience,' NPCI said in the circular. It also directed banks and PSPs to carry out the necessary system upgrades and ensure coordination with merchants and partner networks to implement the changes. New daily usage limits by July 31 Beginning July 31, NPCI will also enforce daily usage caps on certain UPI functions to optimise performance and reduce network congestion: -Balance enquiry: Limited to 50 checks per user per day across all UPI apps -List account: Users can fetch their linked account list up to 25 times per app per day -Autopay mandate execution: Each mandate will receive one attempt and a maximum of three retries, all to be scheduled during non-peak UPI hours Compliance deadline set for July 31 NPCI has set July 31, 2025, as the deadline for all stakeholders, including banks, PSPs, and partner platforms, to implement these changes. 'Members are requested to take note of this compliance requirement and communicate it to relevant stakeholders and their respective partners,' the circular added. These measures are part of NPCI's broader effort to improve reliability and speed across India's rapidly growing UPI ecosystem, which now processes billions of transactions monthly and serves as a critical pillar of digital payments infrastructure.
Finextra
12-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
The Digital Wallet Revolution: How It's Reshaping Consumer Behaviour and Payment Infrastructure: By Ruchi Rathor
The sound of jangling coins and the bulk of leather wallets have faded into nostalgia. In their place stands a more sophisticated and scalable payment conduit: the digital wallet. No longer just a fintech novelty, it is a cornerstone of the new digital economy—driving shifts in consumer behaviour, altering merchant ecosystems, and compelling banks and PSPs to rethink their roles. This is not an incremental change. It's a systemic realignment of how value is exchanged and how financial identity is managed. 1. The Frictionless Imperative: Experience as a Differentiator In a post-pandemic digital-first landscape, frictionless UX is now non-negotiable. Speed Converts: Digital wallets eliminate physical and cognitive friction. From biometric-enabled tap-and-go to invisible in-app payments, checkout time is collapsing—and conversion rates are rising. Reduced Cart Abandonment: E-commerce platforms integrated with wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay see significant lift in completed transactions. Strategic CX Advantage: For merchants and issuers alike, enabling near-instant transactions enhances loyalty and repeat usage—directly impacting ROI on digital channels. 'Friction isn't just a technical issue—it's a growth inhibitor.' 2. Trust Through Technology: Security Is No Longer a Barrier Skepticism around digital payment security has been eclipsed by confidence in advanced protection protocols. Tokenization & Biometrics: One-time-use tokens, facial recognition, and hardware-level encryption now set the standard. These mechanisms make wallets more secure than traditional card rails. Fraud Reduction: Mastercard reports that tokenized transactions see up to 50% less fraud than conventional card transactions. Consumer Empowerment: With enhanced security, digital wallets are accelerating e-commerce trust—particularly in high-ticket and cross-border segments. Implication for FSIs: Banks must move beyond static authentication models and embrace real-time risk scoring, behavioural biometrics, and API-first integration to compete. 3. Beyond Payments: Wallets as Ecosystem Gateways Digital wallets are evolving into multi-functional personal finance and identity platforms. Loyalty & Identity: Apple Wallet and Google Wallet integrate digital IDs, event tickets, insurance, and loyalty cards into a unified interface. Data-Driven Engagement: Every wallet interaction generates rich behavioural data—allowing for hyper-personalized offers, contextual rewards, and micro-targeted campaigns. Digital ID Enablement: Wallets are becoming enablers of KYC-lite onboarding, travel document storage, and credential sharing. 'The wallet is no longer just the end of the funnel—it's the start of a relationship.' 4. Visibility vs. Velocity: Financial Awareness in the Digital Age Digital payments introduce both clarity and opacity in consumer finance. Analytics-Driven Spending: Wallets increasingly provide budget tools, smart categorization, and alerts—enabling real-time financial literacy. Invisible Money Problem: The abstraction of money through digital UX leads to cognitive disconnection, often increasing discretionary spend. Gamified Finance: Fintechs are layering on behavioural nudges, goal-based savings, and habit analytics to counter unconscious overspending. For FS Players: This presents a strategic opportunity to integrate personal finance management (PFM) tools directly into mobile apps and wallets—strengthening client engagement. 5. Mobile-First Infrastructure: Inclusion, Innovation, and Interoperability The smartphone has become the central node of financial inclusion and fintech innovation. Leapfrogging Legacy Rails: In markets like Kenya, India, and Brazil, wallets like M-Pesa, PhonePe, and PicPay are outperforming banks in user penetration and transaction volume. Embedded Finance Ecosystems: Wallets are increasingly offering lending, insurance, and BNPL features—becoming full-stack financial platforms. Next-Gen Capabilities: NFC, QR, voice payments, and AI-driven assistants are moving from pilot to production—testing the limits of interaction design and transaction models. 'The mobile wallet is now the financial identity layer of the internet.' Challenges on the Horizon While the momentum is undeniable, key friction points remain: Interoperability: Fragmented standards across wallets and networks continue to create barriers for global scalability. Data Governance: As wallets become data-rich ecosystems, compliance with GDPR, PSD3, and future AI regulations will be mission-critical. Digital Divide: While inclusion is improving, access to smart devices and digital literacy remains uneven. Conclusion: A Financial Rewire in Progress Digital wallets are not merely enhancing payments—they're reshaping the architecture of consumer finance. From enabling microtransactions in emerging markets to transforming how Gen Z manages money, the digital wallet is at the centre of the fintech revolution. For financial institutions and fintechs: Now is the time to rethink wallet strategies—not just as payment tools, but as engagement platforms. Build for value exchange , not just transaction speed. Collaborate, not compete, across the payments stack to ensure long-term ecosystem resilience. As value continues to shift toward mobile-native, data-driven, and trust-centric ecosystems, digital wallets are not just the future of payments. They are the new rails of digital life.
Finextra
10-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Banfico becomes the first Routing and/or Verification Mechanism certified by the EPC for VoP
Banfico, a leading global fintech specialising in account verification solutions, has become the first Routing and/or Verification Mechanism (RVM) to achieve full qualification status in the European Payments Council's (EPC) Verification of Payee (VOP) scheme. 0 This milestone achievement positions Banfico at the forefront of the European payments ecosystem as the industry prepares for the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) compliance deadline of 9 October 2025. The VOP scheme has attracted over 70 RVMs to support the market-wide implementation of verification of payee services, with the community working on an exceptionally tight timeline. Banfico's achievement of full qualification on 5 June 2025 represents a critical milestone in ensuring timely VOP delivery to Payment Service Providers (PSPs) across Europe. Comprehensive Qualification Achievement Banfico's full qualification encompasses passing all functional tests within the EPC's API Reference Toolbox (ART), obtaining self-certification status, and successfully implementing EPC Directory Service (EDS) integration. The EDS is now fully integrated as a cache service, enabling scheme participants to make API and web-based updates to operational data within the directory. "Achieving this industry-first qualification demonstrates our commitment to supporting the European payments ecosystem through this critical transformation," said Paulo Barbosa, COO at Banfico. "Our early qualification enables us to support PSPs in meeting their regulatory obligations whilst ensuring robust, secure verification services." Production Readiness and Market Support Looking ahead, Banfico is collaborating with other leading RVM partners to conduct comprehensive buddy testing for PSP clients. Upon completion of this testing phase, Banfico will be fully production-ready to support the scheme's go-live date of 5 October 2025. Beyond its RVM qualification, Banfico offers a comprehensive suite of VOP implementation solutions, including VOP RVM services, VOP Conformance Testing, and VOP Service Management. Notably, Banfico's conformance testing capabilities extend beyond the scope of the EPC's API Reference Toolbox, providing enhanced validation for PSP VOP implementations.
Finextra
06-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Bank of England tests AI to spot real-time payment fraud
A project by the Bank of England and the London BIS Innovation Hub to use AI to spot unfolding and novel financial crime patterns in real-time retail payment systems showed promise but threw up a number of limitations to its efficacy. 0 To evade detection, criminals operate in complex networks which include many accounts across multiple financial institutions. Electronic payment systems process transactions across many participants, which gives them a network-wide view. The bank of England's Project Hertha tested the application of modern artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to help spot complex and coordinated criminal activity in payment system data. The experiments were conducted using a state-of-the-art simulated synthetic transaction dataset, developed as part of the project. It includes data for 1.8 million bank accounts and 308 million transactions. The dataset was built by using an advanced AI model trained to simulate realistic transaction patterns. It found that payment system analytics could be a valuable "supplementary tool" to help banks and payment service providers (PSPs) spot suspicious activity. Banks and PSPs participating in the project uncovered 12% more illicit accounts than they would otherwise have found. The experiment also proved particularly valuable for spotting novel financial crime patterns. When trying to spot previously unseen behaviours, it helped achieve a 26% improvement. "The results demonstrate promise but also show there are limits to the application and effectiveness of system analytics," states the BofE. "It is just one piece of the puzzle. The introduction of a similar solution would also raise complex practical, legal and regulatory issues. Analysing these was beyond the scope of Project Hertha." The central bank says the results also highlight the importance of labelled training data, robust model feedback loop and explainable AI algorithms to maximise effectiveness.
India Gazette
30-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Adani Energy Solutions secures Rs 1,660 crore transmission project in Maharashtra to boost green power evacuation
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], May 30 (ANI): Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) announced on Friday that it has won a significant Rs 1,660 crore inter-state transmission project in Maharashtra. The project aims to facilitate green energy evacuation from the Raigad region. AESL is a private-sector transmission and distribution company and part of the Adani Group. The project, awarded under the Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) mechanism and coordinated by REC Power Development and Consultancy Ltd (RECPDCL), will be implemented through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) named WRNES Talegaon Power Transmission Ltd, which has now been formally transferred to AESL, the company said in a release. The transmission project involves creating 3,000 megavolt-amperes (MVA) of substation capacity and associated infrastructure. It is expected to be commissioned by January 2028, it said. Once completed, the project will support the evacuation of 1.5 GW of green power from upcoming hydro Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) in the region, catering to the growing electricity demand in Mumbai and adjoining areas. This latest contract win takes AESL's overall transmission network to 26,696 circuit kilometers (ckm) and transformation capacity to 93,236 MVA. More notably, it boosts the company's transmission order book to approximately Rs 61,600 crore. 'The development underlines AESL's growing role in India's energy transition, as it continues to expand its footprint in sustainable infrastructure while contributing to the country's renewable energy goals,' the AESL release added. (ANI)
