Mi Pay Launched in India, Xiaomi's UPI-Based Payments App

Xiaomi has launched the Mi Pay payments app in India. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based payments app was launched in the country on Tuesday at the Redmi Go launch event. 

At the event, the company said that it has compiled with data localisation requirements, and the app has been approved by the National Payments Council of India (NPCI). The payment service through the Mi Pay app will be provided by ICICI Bank. Apart from payments through UPI, the Mi Pay app also allows transactions via debit cards, credit cards and Internet banking. 

Xiaomi has said that the Mi Pay app will be soon available via Mi Apps Store, and the framework will be deeply integrated within MIUI over the next couple of weeks so that the users will not need to open the Mi Pay app to make payments. 

Mi App features:

The Mi Pay app has been integrated within the the native SMS, Contacts, App Vault and camera scanner apps. Apart from transferring money, the UPI based app also supports recharges and bill payments. These features, however, are already available in several other UPI based apps such as PhonePe or Google Pay. 

The Mi Pay app will also be available as payments option on Mi.com as well as Mi Store app, announced Xiaomi at the Redmi Go launch event. 

In an effort to entice the consumers to use the Mi Pay app, Xiaomi is running a couple of promotions in the country. As a part of this promotion, the company will be giving away free TVs and phones to some lucky Mi Pay users.

Mi Pay app history:

To recall, Mi Pay app was first launched in China back in 2016. However, the Chinese version was not based on UPI framework. Reports of its entry into Indian market first began emerging in August last year, with an RBI license approval reportedly being awaited at that point of time. 

In December last year, the company announced that it had begun beta testing of the Mi Pay app in India, and in February this year, the Mi Pay app became a part of MIUI 10 global beta ROM.

With this launch, Xiaomi takes on well established UPI based payment apps in India such as Google Pay or PhonePe. WhatsApp is also working on its own UPI based payments system, WhatsApp Pay, which is already in testing in India.