UPI payments to go biometric with face and fingerprint authentication

Soon, you will not need to punch in a PIN to pay for your morning chai. UPI, the digital backbone of India’s payment ecosystem, is moving toward biometric authentication. The feature is now live, allowing users to authorise transactions using their fingerprint or face instead of a numeric PIN, as reported by Reuters.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced the feature at Global Fintech Fest 2025, in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Department of Financial Services (DFS). It will leverage Aadhaar’s biometric database, which already stores fingerprints, iris scans, and facial data, to validate payments.

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This means UPI transactions up to Rs 5,000 can now be authenticated through a quick face scan or fingerprint tap on supported devices, eliminating the need for PIN entry while maintaining end-to-end encryption and cryptographic verification from the issuing bank.

The new face of digital payments

The move doesn’t just make payments frictionless, it’s also about accessibility. Aadhaar-based face verification will soon help users set up or reset their UPI PINs, removing the need for debit card details or OTPs.

That’s a major boost for first-time users and senior citizens, who often find digital onboarding tedious. The Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) FaceRD app will enable this real-time verification, ensuring a smooth and inclusive rollout.

This update comes alongside a broader regulatory shift. The Reserve Bank of India has announced that new rules for digital payments, which allow for additional methods of complying with two-factor authentication (2FA) beyond SMS-based one-time passwords, will come into effect from April 1, 2025. Biometric verification will now be one of the compliant 2FA layers.

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Every UPI transaction will still include two-factor authentication, but with biometrics acting as a primary layer of security, the process becomes faster, more natural, and harder to spoof. Aadhaar’s cryptographic checks and NPCI’s real-time validation ensure that while users save time, their data and money stay safe.

For most of us, this means payments will soon be as effortless as unlocking our phones. No typing. No waiting. Just a glance, a tap, and done.