After disrupting the telecom industry, and as it gets ready to foray into retail, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio is now set to take on Paytm, Google and the likes with the launch of its own UPI payments facility.
According to an exclusive report by Entrackr, Jio has launched a UPI payments facility, currently available for select users. The service will reportedly soon be rolled out to other Jio users as well.
The facility will be available within the MyJio app. According to screenshots posted by Entrackr, the facility shows up as ‘UPI’ alongside the telecom, JioSaavn, Finance icons.
While GooglePay, PhonePe and Paytm require you to only add your already existing UPI ID to use the facility, Jio users will have to sign up and create a virtual payment address (VPA) ending with @Jio.
Currently, UPI IDs end with names of banks such as @okhdfcbank, @oksbi, etc.
The sign-up process reportedly requires a mobile number, debit card number to generate the UPI Pin.
It isnt clear yet if the UPI service will be integrated into JioMoney or will be launched separately. JioMoney is currently a mobile wallet along the lines of Paytm. It recently also launched an auto payments facility.
When TNM reached out to Jio, the company neither confirmed nor denied the development. An official response is awaited.
With Jio offering services across telecom, retail, grocery, music streaming, etc, having its own payments facility isn’t a surprising move. Jio currently has a subscriber base of 369.93 million and has become the largest telco in the country. To launch a UPI service, it already has a massive captive user base.
Interestingly, Jio’s UPI service comes after it was reportedly in talks with WhatsApp. WhatsApp, which has been looking to launch its payments service has been unsuccessful so far and is yet to receive an official nod from the government. The issue, which was also raised by Paytm, is to do with security and data localisation, among others.
It was recently reported that the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform is in “advanced stages” of complying with data localisation norms to get a final nod.
UPI payments have become immensely popular over the past few years, with apps such as PhonePe, BHIM UPI, GooglePay and Paytm UPI garnering over 100 million users and over 10.8 billion transactions taking place on the platform in 2019.