India’s Unified Payments Interface, or UPI, was released in 2016 as a national payments system that required no fees and transferred funds instantly. While initial adoption was slow as banks took time to update their infrastructure, the system has completely revolutionized the country’s digital payments interface.
One of the several industries that profited from the country’s improved payment infrastructure was iGaming.
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UPI and Online Casinos in India
While unregulated, online casinos are legal in most states of India, as long as their operating companies are not located within the country and as long as they accept the Indian Rupee as the playing currency.
One of the major challenges faced by online casinos in India was providing a seamless and fast payment method to Indian customers. Most of the options provided before included third-party applications like e-wallets which allowed the company and players to comply with the financial regulations.
As it started becoming a commonly-used system, many online casinos in India incorporated UPI into their payment methods. This allowed them to enable instant and free transfers for Indian customers. With no obstacles left in transferring funds, online casinos could provide a much easier and seamless user experience, and ideally gain more customers because of it.
Not just Online Casinos but Everything Digital
Naturally, iGaming is only a small part of the UPI success story. The payment interface system has also led to the growth of the digital economy in India and allowed many segments like food delivery, financial services, and media services to flourish.
As per a recent statistic, UPI processes up to 100 million transactions every day and is a vital part of the growing digital ecosystem in India. Additionally, the average transaction value is only Rs 1,800 which shows that it is mostly used for small, quick transactions across the country.
How UPI Works
UPI was created by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It leverages the IMPS system of payments and builds upon it to provide instant and free transactions 24×7 to its users. The technology is being actively developed since its initial release, and also served as inspiration for USA’s FedNow payment system.
Digital India and Online Casinos
The main challenge faced by online casinos in India today is the regulatory uncertainty, and it doesn’t seem like it will go away anytime soon. However, with the development and implementation of digital infrastructure like UPI, the adoption of online services will only grow in the coming future. Coincidently, the iGaming industry has also been growing at a steady rate over the last couple of years in the country.