No Internet, No UPI App? RBI’s New ‘Tap And Pay’ Feature Could Change How You Pay

News business banking-finance No Internet, No UPI App? RBI’s New ‘Tap And Pay’ Feature Could Change How You Pay

Last Updated:September 10, 2026, 21:16 IST

RBI has introduced UPI Tap and Pay, allowing users to make NFC payments without mobile internet, along with an AI-powered platform for UPI support and safety.

Paying through UPI could become easier even when your phone does not have an active internet connection. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has unveiled UPI Tap and Pay, allowing users to make payments at NFC-enabled point-of-sale (POS) machines by simply unlocking their NFC-enabled smartphone and tapping it on the terminal.

The feature was announced by RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra on September 10 as part of two new additions aimed at making digital payments simpler and improving customer support and safety.

However, there is an important distinction: UPI Tap and Pay does not mean UPI will work without internet connectivity everywhere. The user’s phone does not need mobile internet for the transaction, as the payment can use the internet connection of the POS machine.

How Does UPI Tap And Pay Work?

The new feature is designed to make a UPI payment work much like a contactless card payment.

Users with an NFC-enabled smartphone can unlock their device and tap it against a compatible POS terminal. The payment can then be processed using the terminal’s internet connection.

The facility supports different types of UPI-linked accounts, including RuPay credit cards linked to UPI.

For smaller payments, users can make transactions of up to Rs 5,000 without entering a UPI PIN. For transactions above Rs 5,000, the UPI PIN will have to be entered on the POS terminal.

This could make UPI more convenient at physical stores, particularly for users who may not have mobile data available at the time of payment.

What Is MyUPI?

Alongside Tap and Pay, the RBI introduced MyUPI, an AI-powered customer support platform developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

MyUPI is built on NPCI’s FiMI Small Language Model and is designed to bring information about a user’s UPI transactions and AutoPay mandates into one place, across different banks and UPI apps.

The platform also comes with several features aimed at giving users greater control over their payments.

One of these is a Safety Switch, which allows users to request that UPI debit transactions be declined if they suspect their account has been compromised. Another feature, UPI Number Delink, allows users to stop receiving UPI payments through their mobile number.

MyUPI will also provide users with additional information about beneficiaries before a payment is completed. For eligible transactions, the platform will support automated chargeback processing.

Another feature, called Transaction Replay, will allow users to recall and repeat an earlier transaction through any UPI app.

Why Are These Changes Important?

UPI has become a major part of India’s digital payments ecosystem and accounts for 89 per cent of digital transactions, according to NPCI.

The latest features show that the focus is now moving beyond simply enabling digital payments. The aim is also to make payments easier at physical terminals while improving customer support and giving users more control over their accounts.

NPCI said MyUPI is intended to work as a trust and control layer, rather than merely as a customer-support service. It will provide round-the-clock multilingual assistance and self-service options.

The new launches also build on NPCI’s efforts to simplify UPI authentication. Biometric authentication for UPI was launched at GFF 2025, and the total number of biometric-authenticated UPI transactions crossed 6.29 billion as of August 31, 2026, according to NPCI.

Together, Tap and Pay and MyUPI point towards a new phase for UPI — one focused not only on processing payments, but also on making them more convenient, secure and easier to manage.

About the Author

Anushka Vats

Anushka Vats is a Sub-Editor at News18.com with a passion for storytelling and a curiosity that extends beyond the newsroom. She covers both national and international news. For more stories, you can ...Read More

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