Xiaomi launches UPI-powered Mi Pay in beta

Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has turned out to be a battleground for global and local heavyweights. Besides Paytm, Google, PhonePe, TrueCaller and MobiKwik, likes of WhatsApp, Jio, Amazon among several others want a slice of fledgling digital payments market that set to grow to $1 trillion by 2023.

Xiaomi is no exception. Joining the league of aforementioned firms, smartphone brand Xiaomi is also tapping into consumer payment space in India with UPI. The company is getting closer to launch Mi Pay for masses as it received approval from NPCI.

Currently, Xiaomi is testing Mi Pay in beta (link) with ICICI and PayU. “NPCI has cleared Mi Pay for large group usage, due to which its beta testing is going live, and soon it will be available for all MIUI users,” mentioned a community post in Mi forum.

Unlike WhatsApp (restricted to one million users), NPCI has given nod to Xiaomi for large group usage. Mi Pay will let users transfer fund, execute payments for several use cases including bill/recharge, water, and electricity bill using UPI framework.

It’s worth noting that Xiaomi is also planning to launch NBFC ‘Xiaomi Financial Services India’ and seeking RBI licence for it. The company also leveraged its investee KrazyBee to launch micro-lending platform - CreditBee.

UPI has been growing at a fast pace ever since its launch in November 2016. Last month, NPCI-owned digital payments railroad had crossed 500 million transaction mark.

At present, Paytm dominates the UPI ecosystem followed by PhonePe and Google Pay. In October, the SoftBank-backed firm had claimed 37 per cent of overall UPI transaction.

Meanwhile, Jio is also awaiting approval from NPCI for UPI service. Its entry along with WhatsApp will heat up competition in the segment.

With several behemoths have been competing in UPI ecosystem while some are awaiting regulator clearance, the road for Mi Pay won’t be smooth. Going forward, it would be interesting to watch how stalwarts fight for supremacy in the digital payments landscape.