Xiaomi forays into India’s UPI payments market with Mi Pay, assures all data will be stored locally

Xiaomi is bringing its Mi Pay UPI-based payments app to India. The Mi Pay, as the name suggests, is a “one-stop payments solution” for MIUI users -- people having a Xiaomi phone running MIUI software which means phones like the Mi A2 (or even the newly launched Redmi Go) that run stock Android will not be supported. It goes without saying then that the Mi Pay app won’t be available on Google’s Play Store or the Apple Store (anytime soon).  

The Mi Pay service or app will be integrated into the core UI of Xiaomi phones, so users will be able to access it across the board from SMS, contacts, scanner, App Vault, or settings – it has been in beta for some time which explains why the app comes pre-installed on new-age Xiaomi phones like the Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 7 Pro. 

Xiaomi has initially tied up with ICICI Bank as payment service provider for Mi Pay but more such partnerships should follow soon enough - “consumers can effectively make payments using UPI and other debit cards, credit cards and internet banking across 120+ banks and over 120 billers,” Xiaomi says about the Mi Pay payments app. The app will, in addition, also allow MIUI users to digitally pay their utility bills ranging from phone bills, phone recharges, water or electricity bill payments. 

Xiaomi is also touting the fact that its Mi Pay app is has been approved by NPCI and it “provides the most safe and secure transactions with all data stored locally in India servers in an encrypted format.” The latter is in line with Xiaomi’s prior move wherein it had announced that data of Indian users who use its products and services will not be stored outside India.  

"At Xiaomi, data privacy and security are of utmost importance to us. We are taking one more step towards user data security and privacy by bringing our cloud services to India for all local data needs. It's something our teams have been working tirelessly on and I am glad we have been able to turn this around for our India users. With the data stored locally and encrypted end to end, users will be able to enjoy greater access speeds," Manu Jain, vice president, Xiaomi and managing director, Xiaomi India had said in August last year.  

Prior to this, all this data was stored in AWS servers across Singapore and the United States. 

Also Read:  Xiaomi Redmi Go Launched In India For Rs 4,499: Specs, Features And Everything To Know