Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 6 (ANI/NewsVoir): In an industry-first move, aimed at further strengthening digital payments and boosting India's credit penetration, Razorpay, India's Leading Full-Stack Payments and Banking Platform for Businesses today announced the platform's readiness to support Credit Card Transactions on Unified Payments Interface (UPI). With this launch, Razorpay becomes India's First PG to support Credit Cards on UPI. Today, customers of HDFC Bank, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank and Indian Bank will be the first to enjoy the benefits of this innovation.

This offering is in line with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) latest innovation in the digital space. Now, with RuPay credit cards being enabled on UPI, Razorpay merchants can begin accepting credit card payments on UPI, with minimal changes to their existing setup. This disruption is made possible in partnership with Axis Bank, which shares Razorpay's focus on catering to the ever-evolving needs of merchants and delivering greater convenience.

At present, UPI enables customers to make transactions through their bank accounts. However, linking credit cards with UPI will ensure that customers will no longer have to carry their credit cards with them at all times for payments. Approximately 250 million Indians use UPI for their day-to-day transactions, and nearly 50 million users have one or more credit cards. The financial regulator's move is set to offer customers the best of both worlds - the seamless payment experience of UPI with the benefits of short-term credit and the rewards of cards.

Shashank Kumar, MD & Co-founder, Razorpay, said, "India is one of the very few countries which have been able to foster innovation through directional regulation. As the leading player in this ecosystem, we have always thrived on swiftly bringing innovative products to market that would translate opportunities into exponential impact for our merchants and the country. This decision undertaken by the NPCI and RBI is set to have positive implications for both consumers and merchants, where they can transact and accept payments via credit cards on UPI. For this enablement to bring in the impact, the readiness of any payment gateway infrastructure is essential. Under this context, Razorpay has taken the first step towards democratizing credit card transactions on UPI for our merchants."

Nalin Bansal, Chief of Corporate and Fintech Relationships and Key Initiatives, NPCI said, "We are excited to partner with Razorpay to promptly facilitate acceptance of Credit Card payments through UPI on their large merchant base, supplementing NPCI's goal of helping all RuPay Credit Card users. This will enable users to transact seamlessly with merchants across India on credit rails in line with the government's vision to expand the structured credit infrastructure in India. Active involvement from a leading ecosystem partner like Razorpay will accelerate go-to-market as it will enable credit cardholders to make transactions through UPI, thereby eliminating the need to carry a physical card. This development is of vital importance to the ecosystem as we look to expand our suite of services whilst boosting India's credit penetration."

Sanjeev Moghe, President & Head - Cards & Payments, Axis Bank said, "We have been continuously working on innovation-led partnership models to offer our merchants a value proposition specifically designed to cater to their changing needs, while delivering greater convenience. Our partnership with Razorpay to enable Merchants to Accept Credit Card Payments via UPI, is a step in that direction. We believe, this has the potential to change the way customers make payments in the next 2-3 years."

Pradyot Ghate, Vice President, Zomato said, "At Zomato, we're always looking for new technologies that make the experience better for our customers. What caught our eye about this innovation was that it combined the security of credit cards with the ease of UPI, which we all love so much. We're very excited to partner with Razorpay, as the first payment gateway to go live with this innovation."

According to RBI's data, the credit card industry in the country has grown steadily at the rate of 30 per cent over the last three years. Despite this, the industry remains primarily underpenetrated with only 6 per cent of Indians having access to a credit card. On the other hand, UPI has recorded over 731 crore transactions in Oct 2022 alone being used by more than 40 per cent of Indians.

With India swiftly adopting digital payments for its transaction needs, it is crucial for businesses and merchants to have access to a hassle-free, seamless experience. Razorpay has adapted to the dynamic regulatory environment with its innovation-first approach. This has enabled the company to address the payment complexities that merchants face, making it a platform that simplifies payments and banking for businesses.

Razorpay, a full-stack financial services company helps Indian businesses with comprehensive and innovative solutions built over robust technology to address the entire length and breadth of the payment and banking journey for any business. Established in 2014, the company provides technology payment solutions to over 8Mn businesses. Founded by alumni of IIT Roorkee, Shashank Kumar and Harshil Mathur, Razorpay is the second Indian company to be a part of Silicon Valley's largest tech accelerator, Y Combinator. Marquee investors such as Lone Pine Capital, Alkeon Capital, TCV, GIC, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, Matrix Partners, Salesforce Ventures, Y Combinator and MasterCard have invested a total of USD 741.5 Mn through Series A, B, C, D, E & F funding. A few angel investors have also invested in Razorpay's mission to simplify payments and banking and redefine how finance works in India.

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