Mumbai, Jun 8 (PTI) The Reserve Bank on Wednesday allowed credit cards to be linked with the unified payments interface (UPI), which will enable more people to make payments using the popular platform.

At present, UPI facilitates transactions by linking savings or current accounts through users' debit cards.

" it is proposed to allow linking of credit cards to UPI," RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said while announcing the regulatory moves, along with the bi-monthly policy review.

He said that to start with Rupay credit cards issued by the RBI-promoted National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) will be enabled with this facility, and the facility will be made available after system developments.

Das said the new arrangement is expected to provide more avenues and convenience to the customers in making payments through the UPI platform.

UPI has become the most inclusive mode of payment in India, with over 26 crore unique users and 5 crore merchants onboarded on the platform, he added.

In May, 594.63 crore transactions amounting to Rs 10.40 lakh crore were processed through UPI, Das said.

The interoperability of prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) has also facilitated access of PPIs to the UPI payment system for undertaking transactions, Das said.

Credit card linkage to UPI expands payment access and convenience via Rupay integration and system updates. Allowing credit cards to be linked with the UPI authorises a new payment routing option, initially limited to Rupay credit cards after required system developments, expanding UPI beyond debit-linked accounts and complementing prior interoperability of prepaid payment instruments to broaden consumer convenience and merchant access.