India is utilising artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance mobile payment access in rural areas. Although approximately 350 million individuals use India’s Universal Payments Interface (UPI), it has struggled to penetrate rural regions due to limited internet access and lower literacy rates.
The Reserve Bank of India has recently launched a new scheme for “conversational” payments, which enables UPI users to give verbal instructions for transfers on their mobile phones using AI-based speech recognition.
AI Voice-Activated Mobile Payments
The service will incorporate open-source AI language tools created by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. It will initially be available in English and Hindi before expanding to other languages. The central bank also states that users without internet access can use near-field communication technology for retail digital payments when internet or telecom connectivity is weak or unavailable.
UPI dominates the retail sector in India, with almost half of all retail transactions being conducted on the platform. This is partly because people in India were already accustomed to using their mobile phones to make bill, bank, and merchant payments before UPI’s launch in 2016.
Additionally, India accounts for 46% of the world’s real-time payments. It conducts more digital transactions than anywhere else, making it a prime battleground for retail giants such as Walmart and Amazon. India is utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance mobile payment access in rural areas.
Although approximately 350 million individuals use India’s Universal Payments Interface (UPI), it has struggled to penetrate rural regions due to limited internet access and lower literacy rates. The Reserve Bank of India recently introduced a plan for “conversational” payments, allowing UPI users to make verbal transfer instructions on their phones using AI-based speech recognition.
The service will incorporate open-source AI language tools created by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. It will initially be available in English and Hindi before expanding to other languages. The central bank also states that users without internet access can use near-field communication technology for retail mobile payments when internet or telecom connectivity is weak or unavailable.
UPI dominates the retail sector in India, with almost half of all retail transactions being conducted on the platform. This is partly because people in India were already accustomed to using their mobile phones to make bill, bank, and merchant payments before UPI’s launch in 2016.
Additionally, India accounts for 46% of the world’s real-time payments. It conducts more digital transactions than anywhere else, making it a prime battleground for retail giants such as Walmart and Amazon.