Credit card linkage to UPI: Uncertainty over pricing leaves players in dark

There is no clarity on whether linking to UPI facility will be extended to credit cards of other card networks, such as Visa, Mastercard, American Express, etc

While the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) decision to allow linking of RuPay credit cards to Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has been received positively by the industry as it is expected to open up a big payment universe, an uncertainty over the pricing structure has left players seeking clarity on how such a move will be implemented.

Whether it is a credit card, debit card, or UPI, the consumer doesn’t incur any charge, it is the merchant who bears the cost in terms of merchant discount rate (MDR). While there is no MDR on UPI, for debit cards, it is capped