BharatPe launches 'Shield' to protect users from digital transaction frauds

BharatPe Shield covers risks such as computer fraud, phishg attacks, and unauthorised transactions caused by phone loss

Fintech firm BharatPe on Thursday announced a fraud protection plan ‘Shield’ to offer coverage against digital frauds, including protection against fraudulent Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.

 

The new offering extends protection to users from fraudulent digital transactions up to Rs 5,000. Users will have to pay Rs 19 per month to avail this protection.

 

Users making their first UPI transaction with the fintech app will receive 30 days of complementary fraud protection service, the company said. 

 

Other such platforms like Paytm too have similar fraud protection plans.

 

BharatPe Shield covers risks such as computer fraud, phishing attacks, and unauthorised transactions caused by phone loss. It enables claims for losses incurred up to 10 days prior to reporting such frauds.

 

“With BharatPe Shield, we are going a step further by empowering our users with a fraud protection plan that secures their daily transactions. This initiative underscores our commitment to reimagining the secure UPI experience for our customers, making security the core of our offerings,” said Nalin Negi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), BharatPe.

 

The Delhi-based company launched its UPI service in August this year.

 

Indians have lost Rs 485 crore to frauds on the UPI across 632,000 reported incidents during the ongoing financial year (2024-25/FY25) until September.

 

Since 2022-23, UPI-related frauds have accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs 2,145 crore across 2.7 million reported incidents. In 2023-24 (FY24) alone, 1.34 million fraud cases were reported, amounting to losses of Rs 1,087 crore.

 

The rise in UPI-related frauds coincides with the growth in the number of users and the total transactions processed on the real-time payments system.