HDFC Bank launches pilot for offline digital payments in poor connectivity areas

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) Bank on Monday announced that it has launched a pilot known as ‘OfflinePay’ to test offline digital payments for customers and merchants enabling payments transactions even when there is no mobile network.

As per the HDFC, it has launched the first-of-its-kind digital payment solution, in partnership with Sweden based Crunchfish Digital Cash AB, a subsidiary of Crunchfish AB, for merchants and customers under the RBI’s Regulatory Sandbox Program.

The Bank said in a statement that the digital payment solution would boost adoption of digital payments in smaller towns and rural areas with poor network connectivity. It can enable cashless payments during large public events, fairs and exhibitions despite network congestion; underground metro stations, parking lots, and retail stores with network blind spots; and even in airplanes, sea-ferries, and trains with no network.

“Digital payment typically requires one party (either the customer or the merchant) to be online. This limits the usage of such payments to areas with good data connectivity.”

“HDFC Bank’s ‘OfflinePay’ brings in the unique capability where both customer and merchant can be fully offline and yet do the transaction. Merchants can receive an instant payment confirmation even in an offline mode. As soon as either the merchant or the customer goes online, the transaction gets settled,” said the Bank.