National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), and CoRover unveiled Conversational Voice Payment for UPI, at the Global Fintech Fest 2024. This technology is the first-ever conversational voice payment system to pay to merchants using UPI.
With the new conversational payments, customers can now complete transactions by using their voice or typing their UPI ID or mobile number. The system automatically retrieves the corresponding UPI ID and initiates a payment request via the user’s default UPI app when a mobile number is provided. To ensure a seamless and flexible payment experience, the feature also gives consumers the option to update their mobile number or UPI ID within the transaction time limit.
The system utilises Payment Gateway’s APIs to ensure a smooth and secure transaction process, with CoRover’s voice-enabled BharatGPT, enhancing the payment process. The system is a multilingual marvel by supporting voice inputs in Hindi, Gujarati, and other languages, making it truly inclusive. Positioned as an innovation-driven by NPCI, the feature also provides the users the flexibility to choose from other payment methods like credit/debit cards, net banking, and wallets.
Vishal Anand Kanvaty, CTO, NPCI, said, “I am really excited for this launch because it addresses India and Bharat. Also, I think it helps all the citizens of this country to make the payment very seamless. I am really excited, we launched UPI123 last year, but the real use cases have started now, and I think I am really excited about this one because we will see this scale happening on this. Thank you.”
Sanjay Kumar Jain, CMD, IRCTC, said, “As I speak, your payment will not get deducted. You have to speak; you have to raise your voice to get your payment deducted and get the tickets. That’s what we are offering. Thank you very much.”
CoRover.ai’s Founder and CEO, Ankush Sabharwal, said, “What’s the natural way to interact? The natural way is that we see and talk, so why should technology not talk? In this pursuit, with the help of NPCI and IRCTC, you will now be able to talk to Disha and ask her to get your ticket booked, including payment. It is just a start; you will see everything, even hardware products talking. Thank you so much.”
The integration of Conversational Voice Payments into AskDISHA, the AI virtual assistant for IRCTC and Indian Railways, allows users to book tickets and make payments using just their voice.
This Conversational Voice Payments powered by UPI and BharatGPT has been seamlessly integrated into AskDISHA, the AI virtual assistant for IRCTC and Indian Railways. Now, users can effortlessly book tickets and make payments using just their voice.