NPCI pushing new UPI players to offer incentives to expand market share

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

UPI) are being nudged by digital payments network manager National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to invest and incentivise consumers.

This is primarily aimed at getting users to transact through these new platforms, in order to reduce the risk from high concentration of transactions on the PhonePe and Google Pay platforms that control around 85% market share, three companies told ET.

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According to people briefed on the matter, senior NPCI executives are in constant touch with leadership of new UPI players — at times on a daily basis — discussing the kind of offers they are running for the week on UPI.

Recent entrants like Cred, Slice, Fampay, Zomato, Groww and Flipkart are looking to acquire users and get them to adapt to the in-house UPI service. However, sources said small incentives to users may not move the needle on UPI market share.

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“Yes, we are getting calls pretty much regularly because the growth of UPI is also a priority. But as discussed in a recent meeting with NPCI, running small offers won’t do much. Players also need to be incentivised and one needs clarity on the market share deadline before committing