India’s rapidly evolving Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been a key driver of digitization in the country, and now, as it introduces a new voice-enabled feature called Hello UPI, bankers emphasize the importance of managing associated risks to ensure continued inclusion.
Hello UPI, backed by the government, enables users to make payments through apps and calls in both Hindi and English, with plans to expand into other regional languages. The introduction of this artificial intelligence-powered service aims to extend access to digital payments, particularly targeting older individuals, though initial adoption may be cautious.
While there isn’t currently a strong demand for this feature, it presents an exciting opportunity, according to Akhil Handa, the Chief Digital Officer at Bank of Baroda, speaking at a fintech conference. He suggests that adoption may start subtly, such as through messaging, and then gradually expand into e-commerce as customers become more comfortable with voice-enabled payments. People are likely to prefer making such payments to contacts they know or in front of merchants they trust.
 has been a key driver of digitization in the country, and now, as it introduces){kind=link}