Airtel Payments Bank on Sunday said it has become the first payments bank in India to integrate the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) on its digital platform.

This will add to customer choice and convenience for making secure digital payments to online/offline merchants and making instant money transfers to any bank account in India, a company statement said in New Delhi.

“This would allow all our 20 million bank customers to create their personalised UPI handles on the Airtel app and enable them to make digital payments in both the offline and online space. Our bank customers would also be able to link their bank accounts on BHIM app and make UPI payments,” said Shashi Arora, MD and CEO, Airtel Payments Bank.

“Payments banks are capable of facilitating remittances and payments to a large user base especially to underserved area as per the RBI’s vision. We are happy to on-board Airtel Payments Bank on BHIM/UPI platform,” said Dilip Asbe, Chief Operating Officer, National Payments Corp of India (NPCI).

“Through this association, we foresee a significant rise in digital transactions at untapped merchant locations and person-to-person payments space,” he added.

For UPI-based payments and transfers, the customers are not required to furnish their bank details to enable transactions and can create easy to remember IDs, ensuring optimal data security, the statement said.

Customers can also link their Airtel Payments Bank savings accounts to any of their UPI handles on popular apps such as BHIM or UPI of other banks, it added.