Cab aggregator Ola has integrated unified payment interface (UPI) on its platform, allowing its customers to use their UPI IDs to pay for rides, the company said in a release on Monday.
Ola customers will now see an additional option called ‘Pay by UPI’ when making payments for their rides. Once a customer enters their unique UPI handle, a ‘make payment’ request appears on the screen. The customer can then enter their 4-6 digit password to complete the transaction.
“Payments through UPI will be much faster and and we will continue to adopt similar integration with other platforms,†Pallav Singh, senior vice president at Ola Money, said.
For digital transactions, the Ola app so far only allowed Ola Money wallet and debit/credit card.
Ola has been aggressively marketing its wallet as the preferred payment option ever since it introduced it in late 2015. The ride-haling company later acquired a majority stake in ZipCash Card Services Pvt. Ltd, which now powers Ola Money.
The company had claimed that in December last year, following the government's demonetisation move, transactions on Ola Money outside the Ola platform saw an over 300% increase.
UPI has seen great acceptance since its inception. According to a recent Reserve Bank of India report, the value of transactions through the interface has gone above Rs 1,300 crore.
Reliance Retail recently became the first organised retail chain in India to offer UPI-based payment at its stores. Jet Airways also recently introduced UPI-enabled payments.
Last week, caller-identification app Truecaller launched a mobile payments service Truecaller Pay in partnership with ICICI Bank. The service allows users to create a UPI ID and send money to other UPI IDs or mobile numbers registered with the BHIM app.
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