Context: NPCI has introduced a new feature in UPI Payments – UPI Tap and Pay

• It will aid the objective to achieve offline payments using UPI architecture. 

About UPI Tap and Pay

• It uses NFC to capture the payee’s UPI ID/VPA to make the payments through UPI 
• Once the UPI ID is captured, payment can be made using UPI PIN or UPI Lite. 

What is Near Field Communication (NFC)

• It is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that allows devices in proximity to communicate with each other. 
• Uses: It allows quick exchange of information with a single touch, to pay, exchange information like contact cards and share documents. 
• Technology: It uses electromagnetic radio fields, to enable communication. 
• Hardware Based: This technology requires a chip in both the devices to enable NFC communication. 

What is Unified Payments Interface (UPI)?

• It is a payment system that was launched by National Payments Corporation of India(NPCI) in 2016. 
• It allows round the clock money transfer between two bank accounts without knowing the account details. 
• It requires all the customers to register with NPCI through a virtual payment address called UPI ID. 
• This has increased the digitalisation of payments and allows the customer to pay directly to the bank account of the merchant, without going through a wallet. 

To read more on UPI (Unified Payment Interface)

Source: NPCI