Reliance Retail will soon start accepting retail payments via Digital Rupee across its 17,000 stores in 7000 towns in the country. Taking the first move in this direction, Reliance Retail launched the first in-store acceptance at Mumbai's Freshpik store.

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For the customers choosing to opt for this payment mode, a Digital Rupee acceptance QR code will be presented after billing. As per the information, Reliance Retail has partnered with Innoviti Technologies, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank to enable acceptance of the digital rupee.

V Subramaniam, Director of Reliance Retail Limited said, "E-Rupee is another mode of payment for us which is replacing physical cash. We are ready with all our technology and backend, now depends on when banks and everybody else is ready."

Also Read:Next phase of digital rupee to be launched soon — Key things to know

Assuring the customers about this new payment mode, he said, "This is actually your own wallet and is as good as carrying a physical wallet. You have privacy for all transactions that happen."

"The history of money has had a riveting journey, evolving through barter, to coins, to notes and now is in its new digital avatar. India's revolution in digital payment led to exponential increase in-transactions yet payment via cash continues to remain popular. Digital Rupee fulfils the need of consumers who still prefer the trust, safety and settlement finality of physical currency," said Rajeev Agrawal, Founder & CEO of Innoviti Technologies Private Limited.

The e7-R was first introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for retail markets across select cities in a pilot mode on December 1 last year.

Also Read:RBI digital rupee participants hail the central bank's initiative

Initially, the use was limited to four metropolitan cities i.e New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar but was later expanded to nine other cities. Eight banks, including ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have been identified for phase-wise participation in this pilot.

Customers of these banks will be able to transact with e7 through a digital wallet offered by them.

The Digital Rupee Retail offers key features like convenience and security while person to person(P2P) and person to merchant (P2M) transactions.

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First Published:Feb 2, 2023 12:28 PM IST