BHIM Payments App Eyes Credit Cards, Loans Through Bank Partnerships
Hyderabad, June 24 (TNT): BHIM Payments App, developed by NPCI BHIM Services Limited (NBSL), plans to expand beyond digital payments by introducing a range of financial services, including credit cards, loans, pension products, insurance and investment offerings.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, NBSL Managing Director and CEO Lalitha Nataraj said the company was in advanced discussions with one public sector bank and one private sector bank for credit card partnerships, while talks were underway with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) for loan products.
She said loan offerings were expected to be launched within the next two to three months, followed by pension products through banking partnerships.
Insurance and investment services would be introduced subsequently, subject to regulatory approvals and partnerships with insurers and asset management companies, she said.
Positioning BHIM as a neutral player in the digital payments ecosystem, Nataraj said the platform aims to serve as a technology enabler for banks, government agencies and underserved customer segments rather than compete directly with other payment applications.
She said BHIM was also working with government departments on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) initiatives and exploring opportunities in self-help groups, financial inclusion programmes and underserved markets.
The platform currently has around 1.5 crore monthly active users and is leveraging its user base to expand awareness and adoption of services such as UPI Circle, forex purchases, pension products and other financial solutions.
On monetisation, Nataraj said future revenue growth would increasingly come from the distribution of financial products such as credit cards, loans and other banking services, as UPI transactions themselves do not generate direct transaction revenue.
She said the company expected to remain in an investment phase over the next few years while scaling up operations and building its financial services portfolio.
Reiterating the company’s focus on cybersecurity, Nataraj said NPCI and participating banks were continuously strengthening security protocols, transaction limits and fraud-prevention mechanisms while investing in customer awareness campaigns to counter cyber fraud.
The announcement comes amid rapid growth in BHIM’s user base and transaction volumes. According to NBSL, monthly transaction volumes on the platform increased from 79.64 million in June 2025 to 244 million in May 2026, more than tripling within a year. During May alone, transactions worth ₹26,952 crore were processed through the app.
Telangana mirrored the national trend, recording a three-fold rise in transaction volumes during the same period. In May, groceries accounted for 23.9 per cent of merchant transactions on the platform in the state, followed by food outlets (18.1 per cent) and quick commerce (11.6 per cent).
Other key categories included dairy and bakeries (3.2 per cent), fuel stations (2.8 per cent), e-commerce (2.2 per cent) and government services (2 per cent). The growing adoption of UPI Lite and RuPay Credit Card on UPI also reflected increasing consumer preference for seamless and credit-enabled digital payments, Nataraj said.
Among the key features offered by the app are UPI Circle, Split Expenses, Family Mode, Spends Analytics, UPI Lite Auto Top-Up, RuPay Credit Card on UPI, forex payments, prepaid mobile recharges and rewards on eligible transactions.
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