After Zomato, Swiggy launches UPI services: What it means for users

Swiggy has joined the growing in-app UPI (Unified Payments Interface) payments trend. This move from India's domestic online food and grocery delivery platform comes after its rival Zomato introduced a similar service in 2023. With this new in-app UPI integration, Swiggy aims to streamline the checkout process for its users.
“Swiggy has currently launched this in a closed user group (CUG) to its employees and will soon start opening this in phases to customers," a source close to this development said to MoneyControl.
As per the report, Swiggy has been experimenting with the product for its employees over the last month. The company is also set to gradually roll out the product to all its users in phases over the next few months.

Swiggy's approach to offering UPI payments differs from Zomato's which opted to obtain a Third-Party Application Provider (TPAP) license for the same.

Meanwhile, Swiggy has partnered with Yes Bank and Juspay to leverage their existing UPI infrastructure. This partnership approach might offer a faster and smoother implementation process for the food delivery platform.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) introduced a new option called UPI Plugin in 2022. This option allows businesses to offer UPI payments in their apps without needing a TPAP license (previously required).
This simplifies things for both businesses and customers. Previously, users had to switch to another app to complete payments. Integrating UPI into the app is expected to minimise transaction failures that customers sometimes face while making payments via external gateways.
Platforms like Zomato use TPAP licenses, but UPI Plugin allows them to directly connect with banks for UPI services. Apart from Swiggy, Apollo 24/7, Zerodha's Coin, and Ola are some of the apps that also use UPI Plugin.
In 2020, Swiggy partnered with ICICI Bank to launch its digital wallet, Swiggy Money. Last year, the company also introduced its co-branded credit card with HDFC Bank.