Hitachi Payment Services has launched India’s first UPI ATM in collaboration with NPCI, allowing for cardless cash withdrawals. Users just need a phone with UPI application to withdraw money
Cardless Cash Withdrawal: India’s first UPI ATM has been launched in what is being touted as a ground-breaking development in India’s digital payment landscape. It is a White Label ATM (WLA) named Hitachi Money Spot UPI ATM, launched by Hitachi Payment Services, a subsidiary of Japan-based Hitachi Ltd, in association with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
WLAs are ATMs set up, owned and operated by non-banks.
The process of withdrawing cash from the UPI ATM is both seamless and secure. Users have to follow these simple steps to withdraw cash from an UPI ATM.
Select the desired withdrawal amount.
A UPI QR code corresponding to the chosen amount will be displayed.
Scan the QR code using your UPI application.
Enter your UPI PIN to authorise the transaction.
Collect your cash.
This innovation sets itself apart from the existing cardless cash withdrawal options offered by banks. At present, cardless cash withdrawals rely on mobile numbers and OTPs, whereas the UPI ATM operates through QR-based codes. To access this service, only need a UPI application installed on their Android or iOS devices.
According to Hitachi Payment Services, UPI ATMs integrates the convenience and security of UPI into traditional ATM services.
“We are happy to launch the country’s first-ever UPI ATM on Android platform for our White Label ATM network in association with NPCI at the Global Fintech Fest 2023,” Hitachi Payment Services said in a statement.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), said: “We are delighted to empower customers with this innovative and customer-friendly enhancement for ATM transactions. The launch of the ‘UPI ATM,’ will mark a significant milestone in banking services by seamlessly integrating the convenience and security of UPI into traditional ATMs. This innovative concept is designed to provide quick access to cash even in remote areas of India without the need for a physical card.”
Incidentally, Hitachi Payment Services, which is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., has a robust presence in the Indian payments sector. It is managing a network of over 65,500 ATMs, including 27,500 cash recycling machines, and 9,500 WLAs.
Anand Mahindra, the Chairman of Mahindra Group also shared the video of the UPI ATM on the X platform (formerly Twitter) and wrote: “The speed at which India is digitising financial services & making them consumer-centric as opposed to corporate-centric (Alarm bell for credit card companies?) is simply dazzling.”
UPI, which allows for immediate money transfers through mobile devices, handles around 75 per cent of the retail digital payment volume in India and is further rising. It recorded over 10 billion transactions in August, 2023 up from 9.96 billion transactions in the previous month.
Building on the success of the UPI LITE feature, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das, on September 6, 2023, introduced UPI LITE X for Offline payments.
In a bid to further enhance the adoption of QR code and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, Das also introduced UPI Tap & Pay. This additional feature provides users with the option to simply tap NFC-enabled QR codes at merchant locations to complete their payments.