HDFC Bank to test digital payments execution in offline mode

14 Feb 2023 , 10:50 AM

On Monday, HDFC Bank, the country’s largest private sector lender, announced that it is attempting to execute digital payments in an offline mode under a regulatory facility to test innovations.

Aside from executing transactions in no-network areas, such a facility will be useful in urban areas with poor networks, as well as in aircraft, according to the private lender’s statement.

It should be noted that there is a service that allows feature phone users to conduct Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.

After receiving approval in September 2022, HDFC Bank said it would launch the pilot in collaboration with Crunchfish, IDFC Bank, and M2P Fintech under the RBI’s regulatory sandbox program.

The lender will launch this service as part of a four-month limited pilot in more than 16 cities and towns across the country. The amount of an offline transaction would be limited to Rs200 per transaction.

For proper execution, digital payments typically require that either the customer or the merchant should be online. 

According to the statement, the pilot is attempting to ensure that a transaction takes place even when both the customer and the merchant are completely offline. The transaction gets settled as soon as either the merchant or the customer goes online.

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