Swiggy introduces UPI-based payment for delivery fleet

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Food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy on Monday announced its partnership with private banking major ICICI Bank to roll out two innovative digital solutions to facilitate a convenient and hassle-free way for its delivery partners to transfer funds.

This includes the government-supported (National Payments Corporation of India), Unified Payment Interface (UPI)-based solution for instant fund transfers on-the-go and an option for facilitating cash deposits at automated Cash Deposit Machine (CDM) available at the bank's branches and ATM locations across the country.

This move aims to enable thousands of Swiggy's delivery partners to save time and distance travelled, by embracing the convenience of digital technology for their financial transactions.

With this solution, Swiggy's delivery partners will have their own UPI handle (VPA) to which they can link their savings bank account and start transacting by using UPI-enabled apps like BHIM, ICICI Pockets, Google Tez, Paytm and PhonePe among others. ICICI Bank will credit the beneficiary (Swiggy's) account instantly as well as send the delivery partner's details to Swiggy, enabling it to update the collection against the delivery partner instantly. An immediate payment confirmation of the transfer of money is sent to the delivery partner as well.

To facilitate complete automation of cash deposit and reconciliation, Swiggy has leveraged ICICI Bank's wide network of branches and ATMs that are equipped with automated CDM. Swiggy's delivery partners can now visit the nearest ICICI Bank branch or an ATM location which is equipped with a CDM facility and deposit the money after a real-time authentication.

The money gets instantly credited to Swiggy's account and a confirmation of the transaction is sent to the delivery partner. The new initiative, along with eliminating unnecessary trips to the hub, aims to curb concerns like cash leakages.

"Our delivery partners are the backbone of Swiggy. We are constantly looking for ways to support the ease of operations by adopting superior technology, and the partnership with ICICI Bank on both the UPI solution and automated CDM will take this a notch higher. Adoption of digital payment solutions will not only hasten their financial inclusion but also save their time and thousands of kilometers of travel. It will help achieve our shared objective of providing a great food experience to consumers in a seamless and convenient manner," said Swiggy Chief Financial Officer Rahul Bothra.

The UPI-based solution has already witnessed tremendous adoption by Swiggy's delivery partners. Additionally, the CDM solution was introduced to provide them with an alternate channel to deposit cash at their convenience. Both these solutions simplify the cash collection and management for the delivery partners and allow them to optimise their time, subsequently increasing Swiggy's serviceability to the consumers.