India is on its road to becoming a cashless economy. A year of demonetisation pushed people to opt for the cashless transaction and the two years of pandemic played a catalyst in this. Until now, the UPI payments could only be done from a smartphone, and people owning feature phones would still have to go for cash mode. This is going to change now. The Reserve Bank of India earlier this month launched a UPI payment feature that will enable even the people from rural India who own feature phones to do UPI transactions.

“UPI 123PAY is an instant payment system for feature phone users who can use Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment service in a safe and secure manner. Through UPI 123PAY, feature phone users will now be able to undertake a host of transactions based on four technology alternatives. They include calling an IVR (interactive voice response) number, app functionality in feature phones, missed call-based approach, and also proximity sound-based payments,” the National Payments Corporation of India explains on its official website.

The new feature is called UPI123PAY and it will offer payments through IVR Numbers, app functionality in feature phones, missed call-based transactions, and also through sound-based payments.

You don’t need the Internet to use this feature. There is also a 24×7 helpline from the Central bank for digital payments called DigiSaathi.

To learn how to avail the missed call payment feature of the app, read below. The feature is not just for feature phone users but also for smartphone users in case there is a loss of Internet connectivity.

Step 1: Give a missed call to the number shown at the merchant outlet.

Step 2: Confirm the fund transfer upon receiving an IVR call.

Step 3: Enter the amount you have to transfer.

Step 4: Enter your UPI PIN and the fund transfer will be done.