Overview
- Samsung announced that Samsung Wallet in India now allows Galaxy users to authenticate UPI payments up to ₹10,000 using the phone’s registered fingerprint instead of entering a UPI PIN.
- Authentication and fingerprint verification occur on the device and Samsung says the data is stored and encrypted in Samsung Knox to keep sensitive information accessible only to the device owner.
- The feature applies only to compatible Galaxy smartphones and is offered as an alternate authentication method rather than a change to India’s underlying UPI transaction system.
- Samsung frames the change as a privacy and usability improvement that reduces the need to type a PIN in public and may cut failed transactions caused by mistyped UPI PINs.
- The biometric option expands Samsung Wallet’s existing payments and digital-ID features, and it could encourage wider use of on-device approval for small-value payments and prompt other wallet providers to offer similar options.