Zomato, the renowned food and grocery delivery platform, is carving out a new pathway as it integrates Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments into its platform. The company, which has joined hands with ICICI Bank, is set to offer both merchant and peer-to-peer payments, aligning with the National Payments Corporation of India’s (NPCI) guidelines.
This strategic move is expected to enable Zomato to introduce its unique UPI offering for payments, adding to its growing repertoire of digital payments services. In August 2021, Zomato established a subsidiary, Zomato Payments Pvt Ltd, with the purpose of providing an array of digital payment services, including wallets and payment gateway services. One of their innovative offerings, Zomato Pay, permits users to seamlessly make payments through the Zomato app at participating restaurants.
Last month, Zomato dissolved its partnership with RBL Bank for co-branded Edition credit cards. Shedding light on the recent UPI integration, a Zomato spokesperson explained, “We are providing a facility for customers to create a UPI ID on the Zomato app, enabling them to make payments effortlessly.”
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The NPCI has been striving to minimize reliance on PhonePe and Google Pay, which currently dominate the UPI payments apps market with a combined market share exceeding 80%. To address this, NPCI has instituted a mandate restricting any single platform from holding more than 30% of the UPI network’s market share in terms of payment volume.
Simultaneously, several other major players like Walmart-owned Flipkart, Tata’s super app Neu, and recently launched fintech platform Kiwi, are venturing into the UPI network. Interestingly, Kiwi has become the first app in India to offer “Credit on UPI” by issuing RuPay cards in association with banks.
Meanwhile, Zomato’s main competitor, Swiggy, has also forayed into digital payments with the launch of Swiggy Money in June 2022. This initiative was undertaken in partnership with ICICI Bank, enabling users to store money in wallets for easy checkouts and immediate refunds.
The transition towards UPI transactions was further validated in April 2023, when UPI transactions hit an all-time high with a staggering 890 crore successful transactions, a 59% surge compared to the same period last year.
This news piece is based on the original article published by YourStory website.
