Purpose: India is undergoing a significant transition from a cash-based economy to a cashless or less-cash one. The smartphone and internet adoption paved the way for technological acceptability in many sectors, including money usage. Economic transactions are carried out using an electronic medium. Among the several e-payment options over the last five years, the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has grown dramatically. Payment is one facet of a country's financial inclusion. The current study intends to provide a thorough evaluation of the literature on digital payments in relation to UPI and financial inclusion. It also examines the factors that influence UPI platform acceptability, continue to use and recommend others to use. Design/Methodology/Approach: A thorough literature study is carried out in order to uncover research literature concentrating on important topics such as digital payment, technology acceptance and usage, digital financial inclusion, and unified payment interface. Using the SWOC and ABCD frameworks, the research need is identified and agendas are reviewed. Findings/Result: According to a survey of the literature, the majority of the research was conducted to evaluate digital payment as a whole. Less study was carried out by concentrating on UPI, especially in relation to the component of digital financial inclusion. The advancement of technology constantly calls for more research. Originality/Value: This is the first study to establish a link between Digital Payment, UPI and Digital Financial inclusion. The policymakers, service providers and researchers can make use of the results to understand and assess the role of UPI in making India a less cash society. Paper Type: Systematic Review of Literature.

Purpose: The Indian Banking sector is striving hard to popularise digital payments and has gained momentum after demonetization and digital India initiatives. To facilitate digital payments, “National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)” launched the “Unified Payment Interface (UPI)”, which is an amazing, revamped, and cost-effective breakthrough for enabling digital payment services for all. Proliferation of smartphones, technological innovations, and effective internet communications has signified the usage of mobile payment facility for smartphone users, financial institutions and particularly the banks. To achieve paperless and cashless economy, Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is a potentially innovative way of transferring funds using a virtual payment address established by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI). Hence, it is needed to be assessed for its potential to contribute towards achievement of digital economy. Design/Methodology/Approach: This paper is focused on understanding Unified Payment System’s (UPI) growth and its progression in retail digital payment over the years. The study was carried out by exploring secondary data sources and by applying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis format. Finding/Result: UPI has shown remarkable growth in last couple of years due to customer’s shift towards contactless payments over other methods. Study revealed that the growth of digital payments has increased significantly, especially in the retail payment sector on the UPI platform. Originality value: This study examines UPI's position in the digital payment ecosystem, with an emphasis on identifying UPI's core strengths and growth prospects, as well as areas for future research to investigate India's complete e-payment ecosystem. Paper type: A research case study on Digital Payment Service in India - A Case Study of Unified Payment Interface

Purpose: The Indian payments sector is undergoing far reaching changes, with digital payments capturing a sizable slice of the cake in recent years. The changes began from a fully cash economy to a less-paper-currency system. The Reserve Bank of India and its nodal agencies are working hard to make the digital India goal, a reality. Nearly one billion cards and more than two billion Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) such as online wallets, mobile applications, e-wallets, and digital payment modalities have pushed India into one of the world’s fastest growing and largest digital payment ecosystem. In fact, an exponential increase in internet infrastructure boosted e-commerce. Unified Payment Interface, popularly known as UPI, is regarded as a revolutionary payment solution in the market for facilitating retail digital payments. The main objective of this paper is to identify innovations in India’s digital payment landscape in a phased manner. While doing so, it also analyses the payment facilitating industry by applying PESTEL model to identify political, economic, technological, environmental and legal factors. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study examines India's digital payment landscape in terms of its gradual progress. Using the PESTEL model, it also analyses external factors that contribute to a less cash economy. Secondary sources were used to gather data for the study, which included reports, circulars, rules, and statements made by the Reserve Bank of India and other relevant organisations. Findings/Results: According to the study, India's digital payment segment has seen tremendous success since the implementation of UPI by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016. The government's Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programme enabled the country to achieve financial inclusion of all citizens having access to banking services. Government legislation, regulator intent, social behaviour, increased smartphone usage, lower internet costs, and others significantly impacted the growth of the digital payment industry by ensuring secure, faster, cost-effective, and secure payment solutions. Originality/Value: This study examines the digital payment industry in India using the PESTEL methodology, which allows us to see the industry from all sides. Paper Type: Industry Analysis-based Research Case Study.

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