India Expands UPI to Include More Rural, DBT Users

India is expanding the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to include more rural and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) users. This initiative, led by multiple banks and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), aims to boost digital payment usage over cash transactions. Despite UPI's success in urban areas, challenges remain in rural adoption, including immediate cash withdrawals and reliance on feature phones. To address these, local cooperative banks are integrating UPI with support from technology providers, fostering digital transactions through QR codes at rural merchants.