Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Thursday, 14 September 2023

Finally, BHIM V 10 seems to have arrived

 Context :

You Can Now Make Voice-Enabled UPI Payments. Here's How    ….. NDTV  /  06 Sept 2023

 

Extract :

 

The NPCI on Wednesday launched a slew of new payment options on popular payments platform UPI, including conversational transactions.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das announced the launch of the products by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) at the ongoing Global Fintech Festival.

The latest offerings -- Credit Line on UPIUPI LITE X, and Tap & PayHello! UPI and Conversational Bill Payments -- are aimed at creating an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable digital payments ecosystem and will help UPI achieve the target of 100 billion transactions per month, NPCI said.

Hello! UPI, will help users make voice-enabled UPI payments via apps, telecom calls, and IoT devices in Hindi and English.

It will soon be available in several other regional languages also.

Hello! UPI has been divided into segments: Conversational Payments on UPI, BillPay Connect.

Conversational payments underscores the emergence of a novel paradigm for human-machine interaction facilitated by AI-enabled transactions that will further deepen the reach and use of digital payments in the country, NPCI said in a statement.

NPCI said it has partnered with AI4Bharat at IIT Madras, to co-develop Hindi and English payment language models.

With BillPay Connect, Bharat BillPay introduced a nationalised number for bill payments across the country, NPCI said, adding that customers can conveniently fetch and pay their bills by sending a 'Hi' on the messaging app.

Along with this, customers without smartphones or immediate mobile data access will be able to pay bills by giving a missed call as well, it said.

Customers using this facility will receive a call immediately for verification and payment authorisation.

Additionally, BillPay Connect offers Voice Assisted Bill Payments facility. Customers can also fetch and pay bills through voice commands on their smart home devices and get instant voice confirmation, it said.

To expand access to credit, promote financial inclusion and innovation, NPCI has rolled out credit line on UPI.

This will enable pre-sanctioned credit lines from banks via UPI and will revolutionise customer access to credit, fostering a more streamlined and digital banking ecosystem, NPCI said.

With this, the process of availing, connecting, and utilising credit lines will be significantly expedited, driving economic growth and progress, it said.

The initiative has several key features, including linking pre-sanctioned credit lines, creation of digital credit products by banks, establishment of interest-free credit periods and corresponding interest rates, defined schedule of charges, customer engagement channels for credit sanction requests, and the ability to link various pre-sanctioned credit lines via UPI-enabled apps for transactions, it stated.

To ensure seamless interoperabilityall UPI apps, including bank and third-party ones, will be empowered to discover and link credit lines on UPI, as well as provide end-to-end customer lifecycle services, it said.

Building on the success of UPI LITE feature, UPI LITE X was launched for offline payments.

Through this feature, users can send and receive money, while being offline, allowing users to execute transactions even in areas with poor connectivity, NPCI said.

UPI LITE X will be accessible to anyone with a compatible device that supports Near Field Communication (NFC), offering payments faster than other payment methods, as they require less time to process the transaction.

In a significant move towards enhancing QR code and NFC technology adoption, UPI Tap & Pay has been rolled out, NPCI said, adding that in addition to the conventional scan-and-pay method, users will now have the option to simply tap NFC-enabled QR codes at merchant locations to complete their payments.

The launch took place in the presence of Advisor to NPCI and Infosys Non-Executive Chairman Nandan Nilekani and Non-Executive Chairman of NPCI Biswamohan Mahapatra.

The launches aligned with the RBI communique in its recent monetary policy announcements, the NPCI said.

Terming the NPCI as the "crown jewel" of India's technology sector, Mr Nilekani said it has far exceeded expectations.

The structure of NPCI was set up by the RBI in 2008 as a non-profit company for payments.

"It has set the stage for national information utilities. Using NPCI as the template, we have several bodies of similar structures, whether it is GSTM for taxes, DigiYatra app, ONDC," he said.

In 2016, there were 1,000 startups in the country, which has grown to 1 lakh in 2023, he added

 

And from today’s print edition of Economic Times :

“ Showcasing Digi Prowess, One UPI Wallet at a Time 

 

Extract :

The Government plans to credit upto Rs 1,000 each in the wallets created for ALL  G-20 DELEGATES , as it plans to showcase its digital achievements , such as with Aadhar, DigiLocker and United Payments Interface ( UPI ) , senior officials said

More than 1,000 delegates are scheduled to attend the two day G 20 meetings

They can use the money CREDITED to the wallets to buy goods from the stalls at the venue of the summit, another IT Ministry official said

“ This will be a NOMINAL SUM to showcase the ease with which digital payments can be done in India. We want the delegates to experience how the power of DPI can be used for the betterment of the lives of common citizens “ , the official said

 

 My  Take  :

 

Ø  BHIM : the Unstoppable  ………………………. 14 Apr 2017

 

Extract :

 

June 2017

 

BHIM V 4.0

 

Feature :

 

Foolproof Biometric ( Finger + Iris + Voice ) / Only needs speaking !

 

Build Conversation Actions using API.AI ( Actions on Google )

 

 

Ø  How to go Cash - Less ?  ……………………………. 27  Nov  2016

 

Extract :

 

Dear Shri Amitabh Kant :

 

Here is how :

*  Based on UPI / Indiastack , come out ( in next 6 days ? ) , with M-Rup ( RuPay

   based mobile app , linked to Jan Dhan A/c and to Aadhar Biometric verification

   of the user )

   

 

*  Citizen can download M-Rup ( whether on Smart phone or on feature phone )

   ,from Google App store

   

 

*  M-Rup can be activated only after user enters his Jan Dhan A/c number / his

   Aadhar Card number and his Mobile number , in the App

    

*  At the time of " Activation ", let the M-Rup wallet get filled up with  Rs 100 (

    as a freebie )

 

*  This initial loading of M-Rup with Rs 100, to happeneven if the user

    has no Jan Dhan a/c

 

*  This initial loading will enable the users to " experiment " transferring or

    receiving digital  money ( even between friends , none of whom have Jan

    Dhan accounts !).

    

   Make it FUN !

==================================================

As per my custom , I got ChatGPT and BARD to compare my 2017 suggestions

with recent RBI launches

 

Here are their views :

 

ChatGPT  :

I understand your request. Let's create a tabulation comparing the features from all 10 versions of BHIM you listed in "BHIM, the Unstoppable" with the RBI's 2023 launch features. We'll go through each version and compare them one by one.

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