[ex-innova-guy]

Originally Posted by saket77

Also, can UPI lite be used to recharge fastags?

Yes, it can be used for recharging Fastags but the amount should not exceed ₹500 for UPI Lite.

Example


Need to use a different method if amount exceeds ₹500

[bijims]

It's Amazon Pay for Me!, They have good integration with many apps and their rewards system is great too! Phonepe wallet is good too, but I have felt Amazon Pay wallet to be more versatile as Amazon Pay Wallet is available on many websites offering Razorpay payment gateway.

[Motard_Blr]

I was never a fan of Paytm and its soon to be demise doesn't affect me. I have not come across any situation where payment was only accepted by prepaid wallet so I don't see much benefit in having one.

What would affect me, though, is some new type of problem: people's savings accounts getting blocked by the banks because of fraud investigation into an account to which a payment has been made through UPI. The payee account could belong to some shopkeeper, can driver, etc. with whom one might have had a superficial contact and transaction. Banks don't unlock the accounts until the police give them clearance, which could take months. If your UPI is connected to your main account, then it could be at risk.

See here:
https://m.economictimes.com/news/ind.../102649498.cms

https://www.reddit.com/r/india/comme...t_frozen_scam/


https://www.thenewsminute.com/kerala...-kerala-175940

So what I did was to open a zero balance 811 account online with Kotak Mahindra bank exclusively for my UPI transactions.

It was really easy to open it using aadhaar verification. I did a full KYC verification later but that was easy too.

Now my main account is clean and free of hundreds of small transactions. I maintain less than 10k in my online account. So even if there is a problem, only a small part of my funds are stuck.

Why KMB? Many banks offer these online only accounts and of them I had heard the most favourable reviews about KMB. I mean that experiences were the least bad! What I read about and heard about various banks are horror stories of customer service, app not working, website not working, hidden charges, transactions failing often, etc.

So far my experience has been good and I feel safe in the knowledge that my money is safer than before.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

people's savings accounts getting blocked by the banks because of fraud investigation into an account to which a payment has been made through UPI.

This is slightly old news. The Kerala High Court put a stop to this practice since these cases were reported.

https://www.lawinsider.in/news/keral...nancial-crimes

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

Why KMB? Many banks offer these online only accounts and of them I had heard the most favourable reviews about KMB.

Equitas's Selfe Account is what my family members use.

https://www.equitasbank.com/selfe-savings

For anything that requires non-digital access (cheque book, debit card, printed statement etc.) you can be charged. If you manage it entirely online (UPI, virtual debit card, netbanking, NEFT and friends) then there are zero charges including for non-maintenance of AQB/AMB.

(My empirical observation is that because of the limitations on their operations imposed by RBI, SFBs have very customer-friendly products in areas where they are permitted to operate).

[coolmind]

Have been using HDFC Payzapp since the prop up of paytm issue.
It has been very convenient with enabling all kinds of transactions like UPI, bill payments etc.

[itisravi]

Voted 'Other'.

I had replaced my car's Paytm Fastag with one from Airtel and therefore had opened a savings account with Airtel Payments Bank (everything was done on the Airtel Thanks app). I have linked that account with Paytm and continue to use the Paytm app for all UPI transactions. For all practical purposes, I think it is as good as a wallet. The Thanks app also has an option to make UPI payments but I'm continuing to use the Paytm app and my @paytm UPI ID.

[cdrajeevkumar]

used Paytm once and took an instant dislike for its interface & connectivity. Every alternate day I would have to sign in to Paytm thus making it a more arduous task. I stopped using Wallet Apps and was more reliant on UPI's of banks.

Now with Paytm gone, I stick to UPI of ICICI & HDFC directly

[Gansan]

I already had Gpay even while using PayTm. Now I use it exclusively for small payments. The difference is it is not linked to my main bank account (nor was PayTm) but to a second account where I keep only 10k balance at a time. This keeps clutter out of my main account statement and I can track expenses through Gpay transaction history.

I have to enter pin after scanning QR codes but that is a small inconvenience.

[Dreamlifter.07]

I don’t think there is an app like Paytm out there as of now. Sad that such a company had to go out this way. If only, if only they did what they had to!

[RRM]

PhonePe

Have been using it all along for smallest of the transactions unless some who have only gpay. Paytm was kept just in case if someone doesn’t have either PhonePe or gpay.

Amazon pay’s UI is not easy as others. Recently started using PayZapp which is convenient as well.

[DetectiveMiles]

I have been using PayTM as a proxy to pay small vendors via credit card using wallet. But now with Credit Card UPI widely accpetd, I use Samsung Wallet (Samsung Pay) for everything, Card/UPI transactions. PayTM was good but since they introduced charges for loading wallet from credit card, I was using only for FasTag, now after switching to ICICI FasTag, I don't really miss the wallet system. I don't find any point in loading the wallet via UPI.
To small extent I was using PaZapp wallet from HDFC since its introduction, but very limited use.

[Catalyst_delhi]

I really miss PayTm wallet, I don't use a wallet anymore. Just UPI lite and bank account.

[thanixravindran]

Wallets (Actual name is PPI - Pre Paid Instruments) have literally lost their relevance due to UPI using bank accounts. I wrote this earlier too - When wallets were getting popular during demonetisation with PayTM being the early mover, the next logical step was interoperability between different wallets but UPI just leapfrogged this step and enabled direct P2P and P2M transfer using bank accounts rather than PPI. PayTM was successful because of the large PayTM merchant base and most other wallets struggled.

UPI lite, which is On device wallet further removed the necessity of wallets for small value transactions. However, one can only send money using UPI lite and cannot receive money directly in that wallet.

Last year RBI allowed Interchange fee in few merchant categories for PPI to UPI transfer usage to revive the PPI space and allow wallet providers to gain market share in UPI ecosystem. I think it is 1% for P2M above 2000 rupees and no fee below that. Just recently, RBI announced PPI can be accessed using 3rd party apps also using UPI ecosystem. So you can add a wallet in Gpay and use it for P2M in UPI. Still P2P is not allowed since wallets can be loaded using credit cards, gift vouchers, so not much use for people like me who was looking to delink the bank account from UPI.

Only advantage I see for end user is one can load their PPI with credit cards and use it for UPI (if wallets don't charge for loading money) for merchant transactions where Rupay credit cards are not currently working due to merchant reluctance. For merchants, enabling this is better (Nil to less fee) compared to the MDR regime on Rupay credit card - UPI interface.

[drGicher]

Well after Paytm is gone, I have started using the UPI Lite. You can load some max 2000 rupees in the UPI lite wallet and can do payments, specially helpful when there is limited or weak internet connectivity or doing marginal low payments of 10/- 20/- rupees.

[Happysmiles]

Phone Pe is my choice for making payments. Most of the small street vendors to big supermarkets, stores and hotels in Maharashtra prefer Phone Pe.

Just saw couple of weeks ago, at a busy intersection, some street musicians and beggars asking for alms via Phone Pe QR code.