India’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface) system may soon become more user-friendly with biometric-based authentication in the pipeline. According to a Business Standard report, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is exploring the possibility of enabling fingerprint or facial recognition to approve UPI transactions, eliminating the need to manually enter a PIN.

Currently, UPI users must input a 4 to 6-digit PIN to complete payments. While secure, this step can slow down the process and pose difficulties, especially for senior citizens or less tech-savvy users. By using biometrics, transactions could become faster, simpler, and more secure. Experts, like Rohit Mahajan of Plutos ONE, believe this would make digital payments more accessible and reduce fraud risks, as biometric traits are difficult to fake or steal.

However, the plan is still under consideration, and NPCI must address critical factors such as data privacy, user consent, and secure infrastructure before rollout.

Meanwhile, major UPI policy changes will take effect from August 1:

  • Balance check limit: Users can check their bank balance only 50 times per app per day.

  • Scheduled payments: Auto-debits (e.g., EMIs, subscriptions) will be processed only before 10 AM or after 9:30 PM to reduce server load.

  • Account info access: Retrieval of account details linked to a mobile number is capped at 25 times daily.

  • Pending status checks: You can now check the status of a pending transaction only 3 times, with a 90-second gap between attempts.