Outlook Business Desk
Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India’s most used digital payment platform, may soon allow biometric authentication using fingerprints and face scans, while making Personal Identification Number (PIN) optional for users.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which operates UPI, is working on enabling biometric-based payments using the Aadhaar database, facial recognition, and iris scan authentication.
Currently, every UPI payment requires a four- or six-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN). But with this update, users may soon use their biometrics instead of typing a PIN to complete transactions.
The feature is expected to first roll out on Aadhaar-enabled payment platforms and could later be added to other UPI apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm.
With rising PIN-related fraud and scam cases, biometric authentication promises better security. Unique physical traits like fingerprints and facial features are harder to steal than PINs.
Biometric UPI authentication features will rely on Aadhaar-linked bank accounts. Since biometric data is stored in Aadhaar, only users with this linkage will initially be able to use the new PIN-free system.
UPI handles over 18 billion transactions monthly and accounts for more than 80% of India’s digital retail payments—making security upgrades like biometric authentication essential.
The NPCI is reportedly in talks with start-ups to introduce biometric authentication for UPI. The technology for facial and fingerprint-based verification is already in place, and rollout discussions are underway.