Leaving behind the time-consuming money transfer methods, the Indian Government announced a new payment method – UPI to provide rapid and safe money transfers a few years ago. UPI stands for Unified Payment Interface and is primarily available for use via smartphone applications. It has received an overwhelming response from the users due to its easy availability and stress-free banking.
Must See: Best apps to save money while shopping!
It is the cheapest way to transfer funds. The user can transfer as low as Re 1 using the UPI payment system. There are various other benefits of the UPI system that funds transfer becomes faster, easier, and smoother in India. It even facilitates Online Mobile, DTH, and other recharges ranging from Re 1 to Rs 10000. The user can also pay utility bills using the UPI gateway via apps like PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay, and others.
Benefits of UPI Payments
Unified System Across All Banks and Apps: You want to transfer money within different banks? Do you have different UPI apps like PhonePe, Google Pay, and others? Then, you need not worry as UPI payments offer seamless compatibility across different platforms and banks. Anyone can transfer money using the dedicated UPI ID.
Fast, Reliable and Easiest Funds Transfer: The users only need to enter a four or six-digit pin for a successful transaction on the mobile app. The money gets transferred within milliseconds using a UPI supported app on the smartphone.
Moving towards Stress-Free Banking: It has opened ways for stress-free banking as the user can send money using just a UPI ID. Gone are the days when the users have to wait for a few minutes or even hours to get money transacted through NEFT or IMPS.
Multiple App Choices: The users can choose the best app from the vast brochure of UPI based apps on the Play Store. All the apps differ on the additional features, and the basics remain the same.
Requirements for UPI
The bank should have the following information saved with the account to use the UPI system.
- You should have linked Mobile Number.
- You should have access to the same Mobile Number.
- A debit card is also a must while registering the UPI.
Points to Note:
- The transaction limit is Rs 40000 per transaction and per day. (Threshold may vary for different banks.)
- There’s a limit for 10 transactions within 24 hours on a single bank account.
There are plenty of UPI based apps in India. All these apps offer a different set of features alongside the primary money transfer. The user sometimes gets puzzled while choosing the best as nowadays every bank has its own UPI App for Android and iOS. We have curated a list of some best UPI payments apps in India.
Best UPI Apps in India
PhonePe
- CashBacks: Yes
- Payment Gateway Support: Yes
- Third-Party App Support: Yes
- In House Online Recharge, Bill Payments support: Yes
- FastTag: Yes
- Financial Investment Schemes: Yes
- Web Interface: No
- Multiple Language Support: Yes
PhonePe is the best UPI apps present right now in India. Its broad set of features, along with the standard UPI transfers, make it stand out against others. All the transactions on PhonePe are based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). A dedicated PhonePe Wallet service helps to keep money in the wallet for faster transactions and checkouts.
Apart from sending money, the user can recharge mobiles, dongles, DTH, FASTag, and can even pay Electricity, Credit Card, Piped Gas, Landline, Broadband, Water, and other bills. It is also a den for making Insurance payments, loan repayments, and donations. PhonePe can also be used across popular restaurant chains like Domino’s, OvenStory and others. It even works with all the major eCommerce websites across India.
The app also offers discounts and coupons while transacting money through the app. The app supports more than 10 Indian local languages.
Its simple yet useful interface is another significant advantage of the app. However, the user gets prompt support if any transaction fails or any other error occurs.
Download
Paytm UPI
- CashBacks: Yes
- Payment Gateway Support: Yes
- Third-Party App Support: Yes
- In House Online Recharge, Bill Payments support: Yes
- FastTag: Yes
- Financial Investment Schemes: Yes
- Web Interface: Yes
- Multiple Language Support: Yes
Paytm is India’s eCommerce giant with services from e-ticketing to online recharges, and from FastTag to Insurance premiums. It’s inhouse Paytm Mall offers eCommerce experience to the users. Paytm Payments Banks is another entity of the Paytm group.
Paytm is widely known as the frontrunner for digital payments in India. The user can use different payment methods such as UPI, Credit Cards, Debit Card, and Net banking to Top Up Paytm Wallet. Paytm is in service before the advent of UPI services. However, the Unified Payment Interface services were recently added to the app.
The user can now top FastTag, recharge mobile phones, pay bills, book movie tickets, and shop online using the Paytm services. It is widely accepted across small retail stores within the country. From a minor service provider to large MNCs, all are accepting payments using Paytm. It supports different local languages like Marathi, Telugu, Punjabi, Odia, Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil, Bangla, and others.
It’s an excellent User Interface, and support for various services is a significant pro for the app. According to recent research data, Paytm users did 5.93% of total UPI transactions in 2019.
Download
Google Pay
- CashBacks: Yes
- Payment Gateway Support: Yes
- Third-Party App Support: Yes
- In House Online Recharge, Bill Payments support: Yes
- FastTag: Yes
- Financial Investment Schemes: No
- Web Interface: No
- Multiple Language Support: Yes
The search giant initially announced Google Pay as Google Tez in India. It was recently renamed in the wake of strengthening the Google Pay brand image in the country. It is the most secure digital payments platform, and it even supports a PIN or fingerprint lock. It is even denoted as a pure UPI based app as most of its features revolve around the UPI payment system. It also offers wallet facility or support for any third-party payment source.
The app is continuously receiving new features and recently got support for FastTag. The users can also recharge their mobile smartphones, pay bills including electricity, postpaid mobile, DTH, Landline, Broadband, Piped gas, Water, Insurance, Loan Repayment, and even tax.
However, users can also use it to pay at popular restaurants, grocery stores, and all nearby stores. It even supports invoicing to get the payments from a person. Google Pay also allows users to control privacy, notifications, and security from the settings. It supports multiple local languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.
Download
BHIM UPI App
- CashBacks: No
- Payment Gateway Support: Yes
- Third-Party App Support: No
- In House Online Recharge, Bill Payments support: Yes
- FastTag: No
- Financial Investment Schemes: No
- Web Interface: No
- Multiple Language Support: Yes
It is the official and government-supported UPI payments app. The word BHIM stands for Bharat Interface for Money and purely facilitates the users on UPI enabled initiatives. It supports more than 20 local languages in India.
The app is primarily used to send and receive money, pay utility bills, check balance, and set payment reminders. Apart from the basic amenities, then the app also offers Home screen personalization, bill splitting feature, validation before making the payment, and much more.
The major pro of the BHIM UPI is its intuitive UI and ability to recognize transaction status quickly. Instant UPI or Bharat QR code support to pay instantly.
Download
MobiKwik
- CashBacks: Yes
- Payment Gateway Support: Yes
- Third-Party App Support: Yes
- In House Online Recharge, Bill Payments support: Yes
- FastTag: Yes
- Financial Investment Schemes: No
- Web Interface: No
- Multiple Language Support: Yes
It’s another useful app for UPI payments. MobiKwik offers the users to recharge mobiles, pay bills, and provides all other necessary facilities. Surprisingly, the app provides instant loans and insurance payments with just a few taps.
It is the best app to invest in digital gold, insurance, mutual funds directly by transacting via the UPI method. However, the users can book buses, trains, flight, and other travel tickets from the MobiKwik interface.
MobiKwik also offers a personal wallet for instant transactions. The users get cashback and discounts while using the app for booking tickets, transferring money, and more. It’s a great competitor to PayTm.
It offers in house utilities like Expense Manager, Auto Recharge, and others. The Expenses Manager record all the expenses, including the past months.
Download
Generally, every bank has its UPI app, but the features are limited to the same bank. If the users are interested in the same bank UPI apps, then they can download their own apps. However, for extended functionality, the users can use any of the above app suiting your requirements.
If we missed something in our guide of best UPI payments APps, then do let us know via the comments below.
