UPI sound box base will touch 40 mn in 5 years: Mswipe Technologies CEO

Says UPI is evolving rapidly, and there are multiple innovations around UPI for data-driven services and merchant solutions

The way you pay for purchases at merchants is changing. Point-of-sale (PoS) terminals are giving way to sleeker units that allow for better integrations with billing systems, order management, and transaction tracking. UPI sound boxes in particular are gaining traction, and may nearly replace PoS units. KETAN PATEL, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mswipe Technologies, a digital payment and financial solutions provider, interacted with Raghu Mohan in an email interview. Edited excerpts:

 

How has the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) shaped the deployment of PoS terminals?

 

UPI-driven digital payments have seen rapid and widespread growth as compared to PoS. To put things in perspective, it took PoS systems nearly 20 years to reach 10 million deployments, whereas UPI sound boxes are at about 12-14 million installations in just three years. This growth trajectory is expected to continue, with sound boxes projected to reach 40 million over the next five years. We have recognised the shift. And the focus is strongly on payment sound boxes and we have three lakh (300,000) devices. Our goal is to scale this to a million over the next two years. To address merchants’ needs, we have launched an industry-first 3-in-1 sound box – a sound box-first model that accepts UPI on static and dynamic QR, cards on both “tap” and “dip” and has a secured pin-pad. Compared to PoS terminals which are more expensive, this is a cost-effective solution. But PoS will continue to play a key role in high-value transactions where customers prefer using their cards.

 

Is it true that when accepting payments via UPI and QR Code at no cost to customers, you have relatively less by way of data to play with? As in, does it restrict the ability of deployers to offer value-added services?

 

UPI is evolving rapidly, and there are multiple innovations around UPI for data-driven services and merchant solutions. The payment landscape is expanding and innovations like Rupay credit card on UPI and credit-on-UPI are opening new avenues. UPI is a mode of payment, just like card payments at PoS terminals; so too are sound boxes. In all cases, the backend infrastructure plays a crucial role in enabling integrations. Certain companies are leveraging UPI transaction data for lending, using usage analytics to understand spending patterns and assess risks. There are immense opportunities for deployers to offer value-added services.

 

Can you give us a sense of how UPI sound boxes are changing the way customers interface at merchant outlets?

 

Instant audio confirmation on UPI sound boxes eliminates the need for merchants to check their phones for verification. For fast-moving, high-footfall shops, sound boxes enable merchants to manage multiple transactions seamlessly, reducing delays and disputes. The real-time confirmation builds efficiency and trust, keeping operations smooth and allowing the merchant to focus on business. This has been impactful for barbers, grocers, food stalls, salons, and pharmacies, where high activity and limited staff make manual payment verification impractical.

 

Cash usage continues to hold sway. Yet despite central bank reminders, cash-out at PoS has not fired the way it was intended as micro-ATMs. Your views

 

We are witnessing a steady shift towards UPI, even in small towns and villages where QR-based payments are gaining strong acceptance. Even in these regions, UPI is replacing cash for small-value transactions, whether or not merchants use sound boxes. Cash withdrawal at PoS was intended to help bridge the gap in areas with limited ATM access, but its adoption has been slow due to low incentives for merchants. When a merchant enables cash-out at PoS, they effectively block their funds until the next day (T+1 settlement), creating liquidity challenges for their business. So too, providing the exact cash denomination. Without stronger incentives and a better operational framework, cash withdrawal at PoS will likely remain underutilised, especially as digital payments continue to grow.

 

Are we seeing the end of the PoS terminal business as it was?

 

The PoS business is not coming to an end and it is evolving. While UPI payments have grown rapidly, PoS continues to play a crucial role, especially for mid and large stores, retail chains, hospitals, hospitality industry, electronics where customers make large value transactions. Merchants provide brand and card EMI offers to customers, which remain strong bank-backed products.