HDFC Bank offers interoperability of UPI and CBDC QR code payments

HDFC Bank – the country’s largest private sector lender –to implement interoperability between United Payment Interface and Central Bank Digital Currency, effective Thursday.

 “HDFC Bank today announced the launch of UPI QR code interoperable with India's sovereign digital currency, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). With this, HDFC Bank becomes one of the first banks in the country to complete the integration process,” the bank said in a statement.

The lender has registered over 1 lakh customers and 1.7 lakh merchants under CBDC pilot programme.

HDFC Bank customers can now transact money available in their CBDC wallet across UPI QR code and there will be no need to scan different QR codes at the same merchant.

Merchants, on the other hand, only need to display one QR code at the storefront or through the acquiring bank’s mobile application. There is no need for merchants to change their existing QR codes.

“The interoperable UPI QR code allows HDFC Bank merchants who have been onboarded on the bank’s CBDC platform, to accept payments from their customers in the form of Digital Rupee currency, boosting usage of CBDC in day-to-day transactions,” HDFC Bank said.

HDFC Bank will facilitate payments in Digital Rupee across several cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Gangtok, among others.

“CBDC is a forward-looking initiative and its QR interoperability with the already accepted and widely popular UPI is going to prove greatly beneficial to its usage,” Parag Rao, Country Head – Payments, Consumer Finance, Technology & Digital Banking, HDFC Bank.

On Tuesday, Reserve Bank of India deputy governor T Rabi Sankar said such interoperability between CBDC and UPI QR codes has been allowed, and will be implemented this month.

The central bank has started the pilot on CDBC on the wholesale side from November 1, 2022 while the retail testing was started on December 1. RBI aims to increase the daily transaction volume of CDBC retail to 1 million by the end of 2023, as compared to 5,000-10,000 now.

UPI, the most popular digital payment mode in the country, clocking 31 crore transactions daily. (End)