This case study is on UPI, specifically the frauds faced by low-income Indian merchants. It presents the outcomes of our applied study of Human-Computer principles, based on Stanford University's "HCI: Foundations and Frontiers" course. We aimed to look for gaps in applications with a large user base so that we could recommend practical and consequential solutions within the existing scope. The course covered various HCI topics, including user research, interaction design, prototyping, and evaluation.

Members: Medini Chopra, Nishtha Das

Advised by: Professor Debayan Gupta

UNIFIED PAYMENT INTERFACES

Keywords: Vulnerabilities; privacy; digital payments; merchants; digital financial services; fraud; Global South; DFS; ICTD; HCI4D, UPI

UPI is a payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and it works on a “four-pillar push-pull interoperable model”.

https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXduxWvg6jRRA1srjdEgwnZp6Lzv2ShLVZemNTgBowDp6ICafSafuIaOLPO_1sb-yNcYkQ7nFk6nxLxP0LNnNOZrPrnos6FNDAlsVYd9az6_iYyL5Zoienx2LQlvpLNSEm_thWIal0L3-LIZhn9eKw53-z-8?key=H1b8SYKqpDO7kE6UUObcQQ

UPI architecture

1. After having scanned the QR code of where the money needs to be sent, the sender will initiate a payment, and the UPI app will send the NPCI servers a request
2. NPCI is the mediator between the sender and receiver and requests the payee’s bank to make the payment
3. Once completed, the payee gets a confirmation
4. Finally, a request is sent to the receiver

The problem arises once a transfer is made to the wrong bank account, you cannot undo it, and the payment application you use cannot help the situation. The bank needs to be notified directly and the resolution process takes approximately 10 days.

USER PERSONA