ICICI Bank, first in India to link UPI ID to its ‘Pockets’ digital wallet

By Leandra Monteiro

ICICI Bank today announced the launch of a new facility, wherein the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID has been linked to its digital wallet ’Pockets’, marking a departure from the current practice that demands such IDs be linked with a savings bank account.

ICICI Bank is the first in the industry to enable customers to make UPI transactions from their wallet balance instead of their savings account. The Bank has collaborated with NPCI to link its ‘Pockets’ digital wallet to the UPI network. With this, customers using ‘Pockets’ can pay/ receive money directly from/to ‘Pockets’ wallet balance without using their savings bank account. Users of ‘Pockets’ digital wallet can use the UPI ID to make person to person (P2P) payments such as sending money to any individual’s bank account or paying to a contact. They can also undertake person to merchant (P2M) payments like paying online at merchant sites or paying by scanning QR codes.

Bijith Bhaskar, Head-Digital Channels & Partnership, ICICI Bank said, “We, at ICICI Bank, focus on technological innovations to offer unique propositions that are simple, fast and convenient. Five years ago, we launched ‘Pockets’, enabling users to open a digital wallet instantly on their mobile phone and start transacting immediately. Our research suggests that users are keen to link their UPI ID with their digital wallet, so that they can directly use the balance in the wallet for smaller transactions while using their savings account only for the larger ones. Armed with this insight, we are delighted to have worked closely with NPCI to introduce this unique innovative solution in digital banking. We believe, the facility will provide immense convenience and the advantage of secured UPI payments to customers using ‘Pockets’ wallet.”

Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI said, “We are delighted to collaborate with ICICI Bank to launch the solution of creating and linking a UPI ID to digital wallet. This initiative will further democratize access to UPI and make it ubiquitous with digital payments by allowing consumers to directly pay through their digital wallets, in addition to the facility of paying from their bank accounts. UPI is a one-stop solution to payments of all kinds, both P2M and P2P, and this facility will provide an impetus to the burgeoning digital ecosystem in India. We at NPCI, constantly endeavour to create an evolved user experience by integrating technology with innovation, and the launch of this offering is a step in the right direction.”