Inside Duniya

After shaking the smartphone market in India, Xiaomi has shown its presence in UPI based payment app with its latest launch i.e. Mi Pay in India. Xiaomi at the Redmi Go launch event on Tuesday launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based payments app within the country. The corporate stressed it has complied with information localization needs, and also the Mi Pay in India has been approved by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). ICICI Bank will perform as the payment service supplier for the Mi Pay app. The service not solely permits payments via UPI but conjointly via debit cards, credit cards, and net banking. 

Xiaomi says the Mi Pay app is going to be available via the Mi Apps store soon, and that the framework is going to be deeply integrated inside MIUI over a successive couple of weeks in order that users won’t have to be compelled to open the Mi Pay app to make payments.

Mi Pay app features

It has instead been integrated inside the native SMS, Contacts, App Vault, and Camera scanner apps. Apart from cash transfer, the UPI-based Mi Pay app conjointly supports recharges and bill payments. These features match those accessible from different major UPI-based payments apps within the country, like Google Pay and PhonePe.

The Mi Pay UPI-based payments app also will be offered as a payments option on Mi.com as well as the Mi Store app, Xiaomi proclaimed at the Redmi Go launch event.

Mi Pay offers

In a trial to tempt the shoppers to use the Mi Pay app, Xiaomi is running some of promotions within the country. As a part of those promotions, the company will be giving out free TVs and phones to lucky Mi Pay users.

Mi Pay App history

To recall, Mi Pay was 1st launched in China back in 2016. Of course, the China version wasn’t based on UPI framework. Reports of its entry into the Indian market initial began emerging in August last year, with an RBI license approval reportedly being hoped-for at that point in time.

How to use the Mi Pay in India?

Xiaomi’s Mi Pay in India is in a beta stage currently, and also the service comes pre-installed on new smartphones from the corporate. Since it’s not a standalone app, but a service that’s baked right into MIUI, it can’t be downloaded separately on non-Xiaomi phones, at least not right now. Once you begin using a Xiaomi phone that’s running on the latest version of MIUI 10, you’ll be able to log in to your Mi account and begin using Mi Pay.

Once you’re logged into the Xiaomi account, Settings and head over to Account > Mi Pay Account. Then, click My Profile and so choose the Default bank account. Now, use the Add bank account choice to connect your bank account with Mi Pay. Now, you’ll see a listing of banks that are compatible with Mi Pay as well as NPCI’s UPI technology. Choose your bank from the list and the service will look if your account is registered to your phone number and it’ll fetch your account details. You can now enter your UPI PIN and your account are going to be connected.

If you’re registering for a UPI account for the first time, confirm to keep your debit card handy to feature its details (such as card number, expiry date, and CVV). Then you’ve got to decide on your UPI ID (such as your name, number or any combination), followed by your UPI address (such as @myicici). As an example, your UPI ID can be john@myicici. If you have already got a UPI ID however can’t keep in mind the UPI PIN, you’ll be able to reset the PIN as well.

Once your Mi Pay account is set up, you’ll be able to either Send cash, Receive cash, or use Scan & Pay. If you would like to send cash, choose the choice, followed by entering the person’s UPI VPA address, amount of cash, and a note. Then, the Mi Pay service will ask you to enter your UPI PIN, and once you do that, the payment is going to be complete. Payments will be initiated from Contacts and Messages apps also. In Contacts, choose the contact you would like to send cash to, and so you’ll be able to see their details like phone number, email ID, and an option to send or receive cash.

Is Mi Pay in India is higher than Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe or Samsung Pay?

The Mi Pay service is comparable to several alternative UPI-based mobile payment services in India, including Google Pay, Paytm, PhonePe and Samsung Pay. All the competitive mobile payment services offer cash transfer, scan & pay feature, and utility bill payments, and there’s nothing the Mi Pay service offers apart from being deeply integrated into Xiaomi’s phones running MIUI 10 (or newer version). Xiaomi is providing a hundred Redmi Note 7 and over 50 Mi LED TV 4A pro units to distribute.

Samsung Pay is something distinctive because it emulates the magnetic signals of your credit or debit cards so you can make payments at stores that don’t have NFC or QR code-based payment solutions. You can conjointly purchase gift cards using Samsung Pay and add wallet services like Freecharge, MobiKwik and Paytm right within the Samsung Pay app.

In December last year, Xiaomi declared it had begun beta testing of the app Mi Pay in India, and in Gregorian calendar month this year, the Mi Pay app became a part of the MIUI 10 global Beta ROM. Of course, with the launch, Xiaomi is taking up established UPI-based payments apps in India, like Google Pay and PhonePe. WhatsApp is in fact conjointly working on its own UPI-based payments system, WhatsApp Pay that is already in testing in India.

Jatin Kadian

Jatin is a technology enthusiast. Writing about technologies is his favorite pastime.