Envisage this scenario. A team of three banking consultants, all having cushy jobs and leading a normal life. Suddenly one of them comes up with an idea- of an app which would change the very dynamics of making payments. It all started in 2016 in an upscale restrobar in Gurgaon’s cyber hub where the seed of this idea was sown. The co founders experienced issues in making payments -whether through cards or having to wait a long time for the bill to arrive- and the proverbial lightning thought emerged- “Why can’t I have a quick fix way to pay” and then, the brainwave-“why can’t I use my mobile phone to make payment?”
Thus was born the idea of “Nupay- the new way to pay”.
Cofounded by three experienced banking consultants –Vikas Kukreja, Alok Arora and Neeraj Singh who quit their jobs in consulting last year with a vision to build a differentiated mobile payments experience for customers and merchants.
Elaborating on the advantages of Nupay, Vikas says, “Nupay is a different payment Solution .It brings the customers’ bank to his phone and unlike e-wallets,there is no need to first transfer money to wallets and/ or burden the pocket with cash or credit/ debit cards. It allows the customer to use his/her phone to pay -anytime, anywhere by simply linking one’s bank account with Nupay with the help of a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) (an email like identifier for the account in the XXXX@bankname format) just once and start paying. This is hugely convenient”
When queried as to how Nupay was different from the other payment systems like Paytm or MobiKwik, Alok Arora, co founder, says “Nupay is built on the UPI platform with Axis Bank as the partner bank . It is interoperable across banks and currently has 38 leading banks on its platform with a much higher per transaction limit (of Rs. 1 Lakh) than e-wallets.In addition the merchant discount rate (the facilitation charges to be paid by merchants for digital transactions) is substantially lower than cards /net banking. The Nupay App provides a unique customer experience where users can send and receive money from their smartphones without the need of giving bank account information or logging into net banking- just the VPA will do. ”This is a real advantage for those who want to protect their privacy ”,says Alok.
Neeraj, co founder, highlights Nupay’s appeal for the business segment. “The app is not a one size fits all, one more feature that makes it unique. It is geared to provide solutions for both B2C and B2B space. While in B2C the focus is on retail and bill/utility payment, on the B2B side, the aim is to digitize the last mile payment in the supply chain. The platform is highly scalable and uses advanced data analytics to provide customers with need-based financial services products, marketing offers to increase engagement and the ability to provide customized solutions to customers in the B2B segment.”
The cofounders take great pride on the stringent security features of the app making each transaction highly safe and secure – even if you lose your mobile phone. Nupay uses data encryption to protect your information and multi factor payment authentication including login password, MPIN and IMEI based device mapping.
Alok, who spearheads the fund raising efforts for the startup, says “With Digital Payments in India expected to reach USD 500 Billion by 2020, and the recent demonetization playing the perfect role of a catalyst, Nupay aims to garner a substantial share of the payments market. We have succeeded in getting the first round of funding from undisclosed investors which we plan to use to expand our retail and B2B presence, strike new business alliances and expand the team”