National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) Launches New UPI Features to Deepen Financial Inclusion
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure | SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Institutions: Ministry of Finance | Department of Financial Services
At the Global Fintech Festival (GFF) 2025 in Mumbai, Department of Financial Services (DFS) Secretary Dr. Vivek Joshi officiated the launch of new UPI features developed by NPCI to advance digital access and inclusion.
The suite of innovations focuses on simplifying authentication and expanding last-mile usage through:
On-device biometric authentication, enabling Aadhaar-linked fingerprint or face ID payments without PIN entry.
Cash withdrawals via UPI at Business Correspondent (BC) points, improving liquidity and digital adoption in rural areas.
Aadhaar Face Authentication integration as an alternate e-KYC and identity-verification mechanism.
These upgrades align with India’s Digital Payments Vision 2025, emphasising secure, human-centric innovation. DFS highlighted that UPI’s evolution toward “trusted, intuitive, and universally accessible payments” is central to building inclusive digital financial infrastructure.
By integrating biometric and inclusive-design features, the DFS–NPCI collaboration strengthens India’s financial-inclusion architecture, ensuring that digital payments remain accessible to citizens across age, literacy, and connectivity divides.
What is Global Fintech Festival (GFF)? → India’s flagship fintech forum co-organised by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Fintech Convergence Council (FCC), and the Payments Council of India (PCI) under the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India. The 2025 edition is the sixth annual event, held in Mumbai, 8–10 October 2025, themed “Fintech for Inclusion and Innovation: India’s Decade of Digital Trust.” It serves as India’s premier platform for policy–industry dialogue on fintech, payments, and digital infrastructure. It typically attracts 30,000+ delegates, 800+ speakers, and 1,000+ exhibitors — including regulators, startups, global banks, and technology firms.
What is UPI Biometric Authentication?
This feature allows users to authorise UPI transactions using fingerprint or facial recognition directly on their mobile device. Linked securely to Aadhaar’s biometric database through APIs, it enhances both accessibility and fraud prevention while reducing dependence on PINs or passwords.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can biometric-enabled UPI ensure universal usability while maintaining data privacy and preventing exclusion in low-device or low-connectivity regions?
Follow the full news here: DFS Secretary Launches New UPI Features at GFF 2025