611 million UPI transactions authenticated using biometrics in June

More than 611 million UPI transactions worth Rs 25,416 crore were authenticated using biometrics in June, reflecting rising adoption of fingerprint and facial recognition

Over 611 million Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions were authorised by biometric authentication such as fingerprints or facial recognition, processing a total transaction value of ₹25,416 crore in June. 

This represents 2.7 per cent of the total UPI transactions in the same month. The feature was rolled out last year. 

“The growing adoption of biometric authentication reflects the increasing preference among UPI users for payment experiences that are simple and efficient. Several banks and UPI apps already offer biometric authentication to their customers, and we expect adoption to grow further as more users choose this secure and convenient way to make payments,” said Sohini Rajola, executive director-growth, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). 

 

Biometric authentication reduces dependence on UPI personal identification number (PINs), enables faster transaction completion and improves success rates, the apex retail payments body said. 

It supports peer-to-peer (P2P) and peer-to-merchant (P2M) transactions. 

It added that it expects continued adoption of the feature. 

Several platforms, including PhonePe and NPCI BHIM Services Limited’s (NBSL) Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app and Cred as well as banking apps have also rolled out the biometric method of authentication for users. 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandates that all digital payments should be authenticated by at least two distinct factors of authentication. 

In the case of UPI, at least one of the factors of authentication is required to be dynamically created or proven, paving the way for biometric authentication rollout. 

This implies that the proof of possession of the factor, being verified as part of the transaction, remains unique to that particular payment.