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Customers can now use any UPI app to deposit cash at ATMs, without the need of debit cards or any other physical cards. The UPI Interoperable Cash Deposit (UPI-ICD) feature was launched by T Rabi Shankar, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, at the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2024 held in Mumbai, Maharashtra, on Thursday, August 29.
With UPI-ICD, customers have the option of cardless cash deposits via UPI. However, the feature is only available at ATMs that can be used to deposit and withdraw cash (cash-recycler machines). Cardless cash withdrawals via UPI had been enabled back in 2023.
UPI-ICD leverages a customer’s mobile number linked to UPI, virtual payment addresses (VPA), and account IFSCs, allowing them to deposit cash either in their own account or any other bank account, according to a press release by the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI), which operates UPI.
RBI had initially teased UPI-ICD in April this year without providing a rollout date. “Consumers will be able to access these features as the banks gradually roll them out,” NPCI said.
Besides cash deposits, RBI said that ATMs are being turned into digital banking units (DBUs) with the latest capability of hosting bank apps. Customers can also open bank accounts, apply for credit cards, initiate fixed deposits, apply for safe deposit lockers, etc, through an ATM.
The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) serves as the guardrails for digital payments apps to enable peer-to-peer transactions, bill payments, merchant transactions, and more. The new UPI features come amid efforts by the RBI and NPCI to increase the reach of the payments interface.
Recently, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced UPI Circle, a feature that allows users to share their primary UPI with trusted secondary users such as friends and family, so that they can make payments from the same account.
