Amazon Pay adds biometrics to UPI payment options in India

Amazon Pay has rolled out biometric authentication for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions in India.

Users can now approve payments using fingerprint or face biometrics instead of entering a PIN. The feature enables PIN‑free transactions of up to 5,000 Indian rupees (US$55) and is designed to strengthen security.

According to Amazon, customers can now authenticate UPI payments across common use cases such as peer‑to‑peer transfers, merchant payments, Scan & Pay transactions and balance checks.

The company says the shift will reduce fraud risks associated with stolen or compromised UPI PINs and make everyday payments faster and more seamless. The biometric data remains stored on the user’s device, and higher value transactions will continue to require a traditional UPI PIN in line with existing security rules.

Amazon Pay joins a growing list of payment providers adopting biometric UPI authentication, reports Gadgets 360. Navi UPI introduced similar functionality in October, claiming to be the first to offer facial and fingerprint verification for UPI payments without a PIN.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) also rolled out biometric and wearable‑based authentication methods the same month, while Samsung Wallet added support shortly thereafter.

UPI is a payments network that facilitates around 18 billion digital payment transactions a month. From October, the network enabled biometrics for payment approvals in India.

India’s Ministry of Finance launched three digital initiatives related to the UPI: payment authentication with on-device biometrics; Aadhaar-based face authentication for resetting a UPI PIN; and a new cash withdrawal mode using API through Micro ATMs. UIDAI’s FaceRD App is used for Aadhaar-based facial verification.

The Reserve Bank of India mandated that multi-factor authentication methods beyond the standard numeric PIN should be implemented, and which made banks fully liable if safeguards fail, is fuelling the biometric uptake. Aadhaar biometrics stored by the central government and native device biometrics are acceptable as an inherence factor.

Article Topics

Amazon  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  India  |  Unified Payments Interface - UPI