NPCI unveils UPI Circle: What is it, how to set up and more; check key details

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched a new feature known as the UPI Circle which is aimed at making digital payments more accessible.

This feature will allow primary users to add friends and family members as secondary users and enable them to make transactions using the bank account of the primary user within the pre-defined limits.

UPI Circle is designed to make UPI accessible and convenient for those who are either hesitant about making digital payments or might not have their own bank accounts yet.

According to the NPCI, a primary user is defined as “a UPI user who is delegating the UPI authentication to make payment to a secondary user” and a secondary user as “a UPI user who will be performing UPI payments with appropriate authorization of the primary user. A secondary user is an individual with or without having a bank account linked on UPI”.

NPCI noted that about 6 percent of UPI users make a huge number of transactions on behalf of others. The primary user might be someone who has a bank account and manages all the finances of a household. NPCI aims to bridge this gap and allow people dependent on others to make financial transactions on their own.

As per the NPCI, possible user stories for UPI Circle could include a parent providing funds to their college-going children, a senior citizen wary of technology, a busy primary user who wants to delegate household expenses or a business owner who doesn’t want to provide petty cash to their employees.

UPI Circle has been developed in collaboration with Google Pay. At the Global Fintech Fest 2024, Google unveiled new UPI features set to come out this year including UPI Circle.

Features and security measures of UPI Circle

Setting up UPI Circle

Users can easily set up UPI Circle by:

• Select "Add Family or Friends" on the UPI Circle Menu
• Enter the secondary UPI ID, scan the secondary user’s UPI QR code or search phone contacts to add a secondary user
• Choose between full or partial delegation
• Ask the secondary user to accept the request
• Once the secondary user accepts, they can start making transactions using the primary user’s bank account